PMD: The Blazing Hearts
by ProfessorLugia
Summary: After Team Firestorm's crushing defeat at the hands of the Pokémon Mafia, things are looking bleak for Connor and Vulcan. With four team members dead, there isn't much hope left. But with the help of a mysterious pitch-black charizard named Amber and a group that calls themselves the Insurgo, they might achieve the impossible once more. Rated T for some descriptive violence.
1. The Beginning of the End

Happy New Year, everyone! I hope that 2015 was a good year for you guys, but I am also ready to grab 2016 by the horns and bring two new stories this year! At least, that's my goal! I can honestly say it's good to be back, and I hope you enjoy the story at hand.

For those of you reading my stories for the first time: Welcome to my page! I am glad to have you here, first of all, but sadly, if you haven't read my other stories, particularly Firestorm Origins and Light in the Storm, I cannot guarantee that you'll know what's going on. Like, at all. But for those of you that have read them already... enjoy!

 **Also, for the Insurgo (Amber's Friends) If you haven't read my Grovyle Stories, they are the main characters from those stories, so I don't really put a lot into developing their characters this time around. So go ahead and give those a read if you don't want to be confused some more!**

* * *

 **Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: The Blazing Hearts**

 **-Chapter I: The Beginning of the End-**

 **-Amber-**

She stood tall in front of Team Firestorm and extended her hands to the pokémon behind her. "Connor. Vulcan. Team Firestorm. This is the Insurgo."  
Team Firestorm stepped forward slightly, and Amber could sense their tension, especially Connor and Vulcan's. She smiled slightly as she introduced each member. She started by pointing to the two Sceptile. "This is Briar and Basileus. Two of the most powerful Sceptile I have ever met. Their strength knows no bounds, and that is no exaggeration."  
Atlas had come out of the back, still limping and being supported by Alice, but he managed to say, "Basileus… I know you, don't I?"  
"Yes, you do. I helped you train to capture Grovyle." Then he added on, "Of course, that was before I knew that he was my son from the future."

Amber smiled while Grovyle's eyebrow arched straight up. "...What?"  
"These two are Tyranitar and Galvantula." Amber interjected. "They are a formidable force when put together. With Galvantula's unpredictability and Tyranitar's absolute power, they've faced an army of hundreds and won."  
Galvantula leapt over Amber's head with a grin, and she sighed internally. _Here we go…_

"What up C?"

Connor reared back and arched an eyebrow at the yellow bug-type, "What?"  
"That's your name, innit?" Then he blinked heavily. "Right… Amnesia. I keep forgetting about that."  
Then he looked up at Connor, a goofy smirk on his face. "Heh. Bad pun… Too soon?"  
Connor didn't react in any way she had anticipated, only asking, "How… How do I know you?"  
Galvantula let out a short laugh. "Well, we only fought a huge freakin' army together, _and_ you stopped the lord of time with your flashy aura powers. Also you fought off tons of stupid Sableye while I picked a magical lock to free Victini from a cage in Temporal Tower, all while the alpha Sableye of all pokémon helped us out because of G's temporal mark, which is gone now!"

Amber did an internal face-palm, but kept a straight face. _Next time…_ she thought. _Don't let Galvantula talk so much._

"Galvantula." She said.

He turned his head, "Yeeep?"  
"Let them take in this information slowly. Not everyone can wrap their minds around this as easily as we can."  
He shrugged. "Alright. Whatevs." And scuttled back over to Tyranitar.  
Connor looked at her and raised an eyebrow, as if to say, _what's his deal?_

Amber blushed and suppressed a smile, but quickly turned away from them, "Um… This is Grovyle- and Celebi. A few of you already know Grovyle, but to the newer members… Grovyle, Celebi, would you like to introduce yourself?"

She secretly hoped that Connor hadn't seen her smile like that, but part of her insisted that he did. _Not now._ She gritted her teeth slightly, her smile fading. _It's not about me. It's about them. They need him._

She regained her smile while Grovyle introduced himself to the newer 'recruits', as Connor had put it.

By the time she had turned around, Connor and Grovyle were already striking up conversation. She decided to focus her attention to the other pokemon. Namely Jade and Atlas at first. Atlas was lying on the ground and resting while Jade simply observed all of them without altering her neutral expression. Amber could sense her anguish and loathing from here. How that Froslass kept the maelstrom of emotions inside of her, she had no clue. But she was strong, and obviously had experienced death before. Her power had a direct tie to her emotions from what Amber had observed an hour ago. When she let out her emotion, the entire town had been enveloped in a snowstorm. When she kept it in, it also refrained her from using her power to its fullest potential. But when she let it out, she could easily lose control and end up freezing herself and everybody else in the process.

She directed her gaze to Mirage, who was talking to Galvantula. Tyranitar introduced himself to Caroline, who used vine whips like arms and hands. She waved and put on a smile, but she could feel her sorrow as well. The entire team, now that Amber had begun observing them more closely, appeared somewhat confident while introducing themselves, but she also felt that the only reason that they weren't completely breaking down was because she had given them something to distract them. Something to believe in other than themselves. They needed that. Their confidence had been destroyed along with their team during the battle.

She looked to the ground and saw a large shadow moving between the entire group. She nodded and reached out with her mind. _When I say._

She cleared her throat and let out a sharp whistle to capture the group's attention, and when she had every pair of eyes on her, she spoke up. "Team Firestorm… I have one more member I would like to introduce. A few of you might know him. But…"  
"But…?" Connor pressed.

"But… Many of you might not know him as an ally. I assure you, however, that he is."  
As if on cue, all the shadows on the bluff condensed and morphed into a spherical shape. The trees began rustling and a strong wind picked up, seeming to swirl around the expanding darkness. _Really? He had to put on a show?_ Amber thought to herself with annoyance.

Connor turned around to face the pokemon that rose out of the shadows. A single red eye looked down to him. "Hello, Connor."  
"Dusknoir!" Connor sounded more angry than surprised. A chunk of earth peeled itself from the ground and hurled itself at the ghost-type, but he phased through it and floated in place. Connor growled and used ice beam. Dusknoir was frozen solid, but he quickly burst from the ice and brushed himself off nonchalantly. Connor narrowed his eyes. "What's wrong? Can't handle us now that we're evolved?"  
"Sorry to disappoint you, Connor, but i'm not here to fight. I'm actually here to help."  
Atlas' eyes glowed white and he grabbed Dusknoir by his throat, his muscles radiating a slight orange hue. "We don't need your help."  
"Apparently not," Dusknoir replied through his stomach-mouth. "You obviously have everything under control."  
Connor gritted his teeth as more pieces of stone dislodged themselves from the bluff and floated in the air. "Enough with all the lies! Go back to whatever part of the distortion world you came from!"

"Connor, that's enough!" Amber shouted.  
He turned to her, and Atlas released Dusknoir, the rest of the team now eyeing her warily. "Amber, You never said that Dusknoir would-"  
"I know what I said, and did not say." She interjected. She walked closer to him, but he backed away and dropped the boulders. She winced slightly at his sudden defensiveness. "Connor… Do you trust me?"  
He hummed slightly and appeared to be in thought. She tried her best to not let her nervousness show through. If he refused her help, then her group had no choice but to leave. And if they left, Team Firestorm was finished.

Connor glanced back and forth between Dusknoir, and strangely enough, Amber noticed, nobody else was making any attempt at attacking, aside from Atlas. They all looked at Connor and waited patiently. She realized in that moment that he wasn't just the one in charge of the team. He was truly their leader. The one they looked to for direction. They looked ready to fight, or die trying, if Connor gave the command.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, he nodded slowly, "I don't have a problem trusting you, Amber… But Dusknoir… That's a different story."  
She nodded silently, and Roy casually floated over to him. "Um… Connor, may I interject-"  
"You weren't there when Dusknoir almost killed us, Roy! You don't know what it was like!"  
"On the contrary," He replied with a hint of annoyance. "I had been monitoring your team for a long while before I made myself available for you to recruit. I know all about Dusknoir, how he betrayed your trust and dragged you into the future. I was there for all of it. Although… Not physically. I made sure to stick to the shadows."  
Amber found herself staring at this Mismagius, just like everyone else. He looked all around him and smile mischievously. "Oh, goodie! I get all the attention!" His smile contorted back into a neutral expression as Connor replied, "You didn't see what Vulcan and I saw, Roy. The cruelty, the darkness, the wretched, horrible future Dusknoir wanted to keep alive for the sake of self-preservation. Death was all they had to look forward to in that world."  
Roy let a saddening smile appear on his face. "If only I knew what that was like… Death. It's the kind of thing you'll never think about until it happens to those around you."  
Connor took a deep breath and turned away, "Roy, you're a ghost-type. Death doesn't exist for you."

Amber swore she saw shadowy tears in the Mismagius' eyes, but he blinked and they were gone. She figured she must have imagined it, but something in her told her otherwise. He spoke with a newfound confidence. "Connor, listen to me. Right now, these pokemon are all that stand between us and that group. Without them, we cannot win. We will _all_ die."

Connor looked at Dusknoir once more, then at Amber and Roy. Then he turned to the rest of his team, "Well? What do you guys think I should do?"  
After a brief hesitation, the Flygon, -Mirage, Amber remembered- said, "Roy's right. We need all the help we can get. Even if it is from… from Dusknoir."  
Connor nodded and looked at the rest of his team, his eyes scanning over them. "The rest of you agree?"  
Slowly, one-by-one, they slowly nodded in agreement. Jade crossed her arms and looked disinterested, but she nodded as well.

Connor turned back to Amber. "Well… It looks like we've made a decision."

She heard a grunt of approval, and shifted her gaze to Briar, who had a hardly noticeable smile on her face.

Vulcan murmured something to Manaphy, and he held on tighter to his leg. Vulcan shook his head, and Manaphy whimpered for a moment before pushing past them and muttering, "'Scuse me."

She raised an eyebrow as the child threw down a warp orb, but decided not to concern herself. "...Very well. Let's gather supplies and-"  
All of the sudden, several boulders dropped out of the air and crashed through the ground, directly into Sharpedo Bluff. Amber stumbled backwards and coughed up the dirt that had been sprayed all over her. She only had time to register the the three boulders as a trio of Golem glowing white before she shouted, "NO!" and they all exploded at once. She saw a blur of motion before they were all blasted away from each other. The ringing pain in her ears made her scream and grab at the sides of her head, but she forced herself to her feet. She could make out her hands glowing, but she willed it to stop using her remaining strength. _No!_ She spoke with her mind. She looked around frantically for the rest of the group, but so far only Briar, Tyranitar, Galvantula, Celebi, Atlas, Mirage, Vulcan, Dusknoir and Roy were to be seen.

She screamed as tears of pain streaked her face and she fell to the ground. "NO!"

Galvantula scrambled frantically up to her and spoke, but she still only heard ringing. Nothing else. Galvantula's voice broke through her thoughts with his electrokinesis. " _Amber! Are you alright?!"  
_ She nodded slowly, still unable to talk. But her mind replied for her. " _I'll live."_

Galvantula appeared to sigh with relief, " _That's good…"_ Then he looked around, " _But… the others…"  
_ Amber gasped and tried to sit up, but she felt several points along her back that exploded in pain. She rolled onto her stomach, and the ringing seemed to lessen. She could hear Galvantula's muffled voice. All she could make out was, "Not good."  
She groaned, "What's not good?"

Briar grimaced and placed a hand on Amber's back, her voice coming through clearly. "Hold still child… This will hurt."  
Amber gritted her teeth and braced herself. "Who are you calling- Aaauugh!"  
She heard a sickening sound just after the pain of serrated shards of stone being pulled out of her shoulders, and her vision became red and blurred.

Tears streaked her face as Briar pulled more and more stone fragments out of her back and shoulders. She screamed in agony as the blood poured down her sides, and after what felt like an eternity, Briar bandaged them with a special plant fiber and used aromatherapy. "There, there… It's all done. The pain is over." Amber tilted her head to the side, and Briar grew several plants that were absolutely gorgeous, their fragrances seeming to numb the pain and the sight of them making her relax. Briar teared up as she looked out over the ocean. "The others… Grovyle… Basileus..."  
When Amber's vision started to clear up, her entire view was sideways. But she saw Tyranitar pulling stone fragments out of his skin. One sizeable piece had embedded itself only inches below his eye. He pulled it out like a needle and said, "I tried to shield them… All I got to was Celebi and Atlas. I...I'm sorry."  
Briar looked up at the stone colossus. Even though he was sitting down and leaning against the only tree on the bluff, he made everyone else look miniscule by comparison. "I am grateful that you saved those you did. None of us had anticipated that this would happen. ...Thank you."  
Dusknoir and Roy seemed unaffected. Amber didn't know how. They were both floating there, in shock. But not shock as in pain, just shock as in _how did this happen so suddenly?_

Galvantula crawled over to the ruins of Team Firestorm's old base, then called back, his voice sounding like he was about to burst into tears. "...Are they dead?"  
"No… At least, not any of ours," she replied through gritted teeth. She could sense their power from here. It was a special gift she had possessed for as long as she could remember.  
Atlas struggled to his feet, using a nearby boulder for support and stammered, "H… How…"  
Celebi walked along the ground, her wing bent at an odd angle. She closed her eyes and started to hum. Amber looked to her for a moment before Celebi said, "Yes… They're alive. At least, most of them." She grimaced when she moved her wing, but she continued standing.  
Amber extended her wings and tried to stand, but the muscles in her back had been torn too much, and the stone shards had pierced holes in her wings, to the point that they resembled tattered, bloody fabric rather than crimson sails. She continued lying on the ground and clenched her fists. "Why does it have to be so hard?!" She cried out. She knew it wasn't going to be easy. That all the odds had been stacked against her from the beginning. She knew that the only reason that they were allowed here was because Team Firestorm was needed. But the Mafia had almost erased that branch of reality, so they needed to intervene. Tyranitar helped her up and propped her against the nearest boulder. She groaned and stared wordlessly over the ocean, praying to Arceus that the rest of them had somehow survived.

* * *

 **Once again, thank you guys for making this all possible! Without the support of my reader people, I would never have begun working on this story, let alone another one after this. And yes, this story will be three seperate parts, each one consisting of about 25-30 chapters. So I will be writing for a long while. As always, let me know if you enjoyed the chapter with a quick Review or PM! You don't have to be a registered user to leave a review, so don't be shy to critique! Much Love!**

 **-PL**


	2. The Songs of Team Siren

**-Chapter II: The Songs of Team Siren-**

 **-Connor-**

After the three Golem exploded, he didn't even have time to throw up a protect barrier. They had all been blasted off the cliff, and there was a quiet ringing in his ears. He hit the water with sickening force, and something told him that he only survived because of his water typing. He saw Vulcan try to extend his wings before he slammed into the water, but some of the stone fragments had torn holes in the skin that kept him in the air. He spiraled downwards into the ocean somewhere in the distance. Boulders started to rain from above, and he stopped them with Ancient Power. He held the boulders in midair and threw them back into the cliffside, then looked around frantically. "Vulcan! Vulcan, where are you?!"

One head broke the surface, and Connor swam over to it. It was Basileus. He swam frantically and coughed up water, clawing for any handhold. Connor grabbed hold of the Sceptile and looked around further, but Basileus kept clawing frantically for a few seconds before he calmed down, scratching him pretty badly. Alice's head popped up shortly after, but she seemed to be swimming alright. Then Grovyle. After a while, no other motion appeared. Connor said, "I have to go look for him."

Basileus slowly nodded, "A-Alright…"

Connor dove, and Basileus held on for dear life. At first, Connor was caught off guard. He had expected the Sceptile to let go and tread water. He grunted and dove down further. He saw a flash of white, and Jade's unconscious form floated beneath him, the sunlight trickling down from above making her seem like a ghost. Well, technically she was, but this was different. She actually looked like a spirit, which was creepy. He grabbed her with one hand and Basileus tapped his shoulder, then pointed upwards. He blasted to the surface and held Jade above the water while Basileus caught his breath. He stared at her while he floated on a boulder with Ancient Power, then listened for a pulse. It was faint, barely audible, but it was there. Connor teared up with joy. "Jade… Don't die now." He looked at Basileus, "Make sure she lives. I have to find Vulcan." Basileus nodded and Connor dove back into the ocean.

He raised another boulder for Grovyle and Alice, but his strength was fading the further he swam. He began losing connection with the boulders up above. He gritted his teeth and narrowed his eyes, but saw nothing else. He screamed with such force the water in front of him split and curled to his voice, the shockwaves bouncing off of the ocean floor and back. He swam back to the surface and rode a boulder back to where the others had been kept. He saw Basileus and Jade on one, and Alice and Grovyle on another. He looked around frantically, hoping to catch a glimpse of Vulcan or any other team members. Grovyle saw him and waved him over. Connor began flying towards them, but all at once the sun grew dark, and an ominous shadow cast itself over him. He turned around and all he could think was _oh, no…_

A tsunami almost as tall as the bluff had come up right behind him, silently and out of nowhere. He shot a hydro pump at it, hoping to split the wave around them, but it simply absorbed the water and crashed into him. He was thrown around like a rag doll, and even for as strong of a swimmer as he was, he didn't stand a chance. He was stung by several Tentacool and Tentacruel that floated in the wave, then he was slammed into the cliffside and he was knocked out cold.

* * *

When he came to, he was in a gorgeous room with a faint light trickling through the windows. He didn't register where the rest of the light around him emanated from once he heard groaning to his right. Alice and Jade, as well as Basileus and Grovyle, were all asleep on makeshift beds. He saw Caroline and Vulcan passed out too, which made him relax a little bit. _But what happened?_ He asked himself. _Three Golem dropped out of the sky… Then blew up. That doesn't just happen. ...Dusknoir! I knew we shouldn't have let our guard down! This is all his fault! When I get my hands on him..._

He looked around further, pressing the thought to the back of his head. He was in a fairly large room, with glowing crystals floating in the middle of the air, illuminating what otherwise would have been a dark, lifeless place. The walls seemed to be made of multicolored coral, with several openings in the walls that seemed to be overlooking the ocean floor. The ground around them seemed to be etched with seashell patterns and fossils of sea-dwelling pokémon.

"The ocean…?" Connor extended his arm and nudged Vulcan. "Hey, wake up."

"No… Don't… him..." Vulcan mumbled.

"Vulcan, get up!" he said a little bit more forcefully.

"Huh…? Connor?" His eyes shot open and tears began streaming down his face. "Gah! Connor! At the bluff! Our home! It's-!"

"We don't know for sure what happened. What did you tell Manaphy? Where is he?"

Vulcan's eyes widened. "I told him to hide in the ocean, and don't come looking for us until this whole thing dies down. And don't come back to the bluff, no matter what."

Connor sighed with relief. "Good thing you told him to go right before that whole thing happened. You're like the master of convenient timing." He rubbed his head and looked around. "But… How _did_ it-"

"Good to see you're awake."

Connor quickly whipped his head around to see an Empoleon walking in calmly from a separate hallway. She had a voice that sounded... powerful, in a way that gave him chills and made his skin crawl. But it wasn't creepy. It was kind of pleasant to listen to. He raised an eyebrow and looked around, then looked back at Vulcan momentarily, his expression saying _let me handle this_. "Ah… Who are you? And where are we?"

She smiled charmingly, and she seemed sincere enough. "You're in our home. My name is Galatia. I'm second in command of Team Siren."

He warily sat up, but grunted as his arm buckled beneath him. He winced as Galatia drew closer. "It's alright. Now tell me, who are you? And the Charizard?"

He tilted his head, still wary of this pokemon. "Connor and Vulcan… Leaders of Team Firestorm."

She seemed to ponder that name for a moment. "Firestorm…" Then she looked at the others. Grovyle, Jade, Alice, Basileus, Caroline. Then she nodded, as if she just figured it out. "You're from the mainland."

He was kind of surprised that she said it like it was uncommon. He looked around some more and asked, "We're underwater, aren't we?"

The Empoleon sat down next to him. "Yes."

He was caught off guard at her simple response. "Wow… Okay, um… Then why aren't my friends suffocating?"

"Narobi was kind enough to place a veil of air over your team. There's no need for concern."

Then, without preamble, the most beautiful pokemon Connor had ever seen in his life swam through the nearest window. A Milotic, about twenty feet long, and absolutely stunning. And that was the only way he could describe her. Not hot, or cute, or anything like that. just... beautiful. Like a timeless kind of beauty. Her scales reflected the somewhat bright light, seeming to shimmer different colors with every inch she moved. She had pink hair-like extensions that flowed in the water behind her, like ribbons. She smiled and coiled up in the room. "Welcome… I am Cassandra."

Her voice wanted to make him smile uncontrollably. It didn't seem forced or anything. She just… had an aura about her that made him want to grin. He had to remind himself not to stare, and the Milotic laughed softly. "My partner did not recognize you nor the others with you. And for that reason, she decided to let you and your friends heal here. We do not know your intentions, Connor. But you claim that you're part of an exploration team on the mainland?"

He nodded stupidly and mumbled, "Mhmm, yeah…" he blinked heavily and shook off his infatuation. "I mean, yes, ma'am."

She uncoiled and smiled slightly, her eyes reflecting the light from the glowing crystals. "There's no need for formalities here. Just tell me... what you were doing in the ocean without shore nearby?"

Connor rubbed his head, "I think… We were blown up… By three Golem."

"'Blown up'? Hm, that might explain the tidal wave that hit the bluff…"

Connor's interest spiked. "You knew about that?"

Cassandra nodded, "Some powerful force summoned that wave. At first we figured it was just a strange occurrence. An abnormality, if you will. But now I'm not so sure…"

"Did you find anyone else?" He blurt out.

Galatia shook her head, "No one else that I saw. Shouldn't seven pokemon be more than enough for any exploration team? After all, only four can enter any mystery dungeon at any given time on the mainland, right?"

He tried to make sense of what was going on. "You guys found us out in the middle of the ocean…" He narrowed his eyes, his mind going into overdrive. "But you saw the wave hit the bluff…" He spoke with a faint whisper, but the Milotic had the ears of a Braviary. "Not exactly. We felt it in the currents, and another team informed us of what had happened."

He gritted his teeth again, and Galatia tilted her head. "Were there others with you?"

He nodded, and apparently in that time, Grovyle, Alice and Jade had woken up, because Alice's voice came from behind him, "Wha...? Where are we?"

Connor turned around and smiled even wider, "You're alive!"

He swam forward, ignoring the pain in his arms and tackled her with a hug, and she pushed him off with a slight smile. "Of course I'm alive… But who are they?"

Connor smiled and gestured to the Milotic and Empoleon behind him. "They're team Siren. They found us passed out in the water and took us in."

She looked around and suddenly realized that she was underwater. Her breathing shortened, and as if on cue, a huntail swam through the nearest hole in the wall, then swiftly out the other side at one glance of Galatia's arm blades. Alice's eyes widened and she stepped back. "Wh-what? What's going on?! Why am I not suffocating? Where's Atlas?!"

"I… I don't know." He couldn't bring himself to meet her eyes. "Where's Atlas?!" She demanded. Cassandra laughed gently. "My, my… You're high-strung, aren't you?" She leveled her head down to Alice. "It is likely that he is still on land. Galatia did not find him, nor any others."

Alice tried to speak, but Cassandra cut her off. "Don't speak without thought. We do not know where he is, or even who he is. That is all we can presume. Please realize our limitations."

Grovyle sat up and looked around. "So this is what an ocean exploration team's base looks like…" Then he observed a swarm of Luvdisc swimming through the water, swirling in a miniature tornado of heart-shaped pokémon and crossed his arms. "Impressive."

Caroline woke up and had a similar reaction to Alice, although she seemed much calmer about it. "Are those…? Are we underwater?"

Grovyle nodded. "Yes." He looked at the rest of the pokémon that were down here with him. "Like the Milotic said, the others are probably still on the bluff. I doubt it blew all of us over the cliff."

Connor spoke up again. "Excuse me, Cassandra…"

"Yes?" He shuddered from the strength behind her voice. It was different. Not powerful in an intimidating way, like Galatia's, but it was filled with power, as if every word were amplified, but without being louder, if that made sense. "Um… Earlier, Galatia mentioned another one that wrapped the oxygen layer thing around us. Is he a member of your team too?"

"Yes, he is." She looked at Jade and shifted slightly, her smile lessening for a moment before looking back at him. "We should introduce your group!"

He sat up and floated off of the bed. Grovyle woke his dad up, and Basileus flipped out. That was the only way he could put it. Basileus went ballistic, sprouting thorns all over his body and at one point he even tried to use solarbeam, but Cassandra shouted, "Stop!"

We all froze in our tracks. Basileus cancelled his move and looked around, the fear in his one eye slowly fading, but still there. _Strange…_ Connor thought. _What is he so scared of?_

Basileus took deep breaths while Grovyle filled him in, and Alice tried to swim forward. It didn't go too well. First she flipped upside down and hung in mid-air (Or water). She righted herself and tried to walk normally, but it was like a jump with every step, where gravity was super weak. It took a full four minutes for her to make it across the room. Galatia snickered under her breath, and Cassandra simply smiled. She turned to face Jade and asked, "You… Would you like to join us?"

Jade nodded silently and floated forward. He tried to stop her as she floated past. "Jade-"

His hand phased through her like she wasn't there, and when she looked at him, the pain in her eyes made his smile vanish. She teared up and floated after Galatia without a sound, who had begun swimming down a corridor lined with blue burning torches. Vulcan swung his tail back and forth to propel him while using his wings to stay upright. His tail flame burned just as bright as normal, which made Connor raise an eyebrow. _Probably just the Oxygen veil keeping it lit..._

Cassandra offered to let Alice hold on to her back, which she of course accepted. Connor helped Basileus and Grovyle up and let them hold onto his back while he swam after the two water-types. When they reached the next part of the hallway, he heard a loud *crash* followed by an explosion. Galatia nodded, "They're training. I'd hate to interrupt, but this _is_ fairly urgent."

When she opened the big stone double doors, the other room they were in seemed tiny by comparison. This room was easily as spacious as Wigglytuff's Guild. He looked up and saw two pokemon, one seeming to shoot glowing energy beams at rays of light, the other one destroying floating targets with physical force. Cassandra called out to them and they floated down to them. One was a Slowking, the other a Poliwrath.

The Poliwrath raised an eyebrow at Alice, Grovyle, Vulcan, Caroline and Basileus. "Land dwellers? Cassandra, didn't we-"

"We have deemed them to be no threat," Cassandra said. "They would have died without us."

The Poliwrath grunted once and crossed his arms. "Well, what's their names, then?"

Connor swam forward first, "I'm Connor, leader of Team Firestorm."

Vulcan nodded and glided forward, weakly muttering, "I'm Vulcan. Co-leader."

The Poliwrath grunted, his gruff voice echoing in the now silent room. "What's the matter boy? Can't speak?"

Vulcan gritted his teeth and began tearing up, so Connor intervened. "What's your name?"

"The name's Hydro."

The Slowking observed them all with little regard and seemed to look at them like they were interrupting, which made Connor a little mad. "Cassandra," He said. His voice was a lot deeper than he had pictured. It was kind of husky, which caught him by surprise. "I do not find it wise to have more land-dwellers roam freely amongst us. Do you so quickly forget-"

"I have not forgotten. Remember your place, Narobi."

The Slowking nodded slowly, then knelt on one knee for a moment. "Very well. You _are_ the leader."

He floated through the doors and they slammed shut behind him.

Connor arched an eyebrow at the Slowking's behavior. Not realizing he was thinking aloud, he said, "What's his problem?"

Cassandra's smile faded, and her whole composure seemed to change. She sighed and turned to them. "They are still hurt from past experiences."

His eyes widened in a silent message to continue, and she started. "Several years ago… We found another exploration team. They were starving out in the middle of an underwater mystery dungeon, and beaten down almost beyond recovery. We had the dungeon marked for exploration several weeks in advance, but we decided to help them both. They were lovely." She smiled wistfully, which made Connor kind of sad for her.

Then she said, "We took them in. Gave them food and water and healed them. But we had not ever experienced land-dwellers before. They were strange, had strange customs… The leader was a water-type, just like you. With a fire-type partner."

She teared up, but kept talking the same. "Eventually, their leader… He was beautiful… I fell in love, like a fool."

Jade exhaled just loud enough to where Connor turned around, but she narrowed her eyes and kept listening. "Well, not love, exactly… More like infatuation. I was intrigued with him, to say the least." The Milotic shook her head, her pink extensions flowing through the water like streamers. "Why am I saying this to complete strangers?" She uncurled and started swimming away, but Jade stopped her. "Wait."

The Milotic turned around. "So… You can talk." The way she said it made it sound like she wanted Jade to speak, but couldn't figure out when she was going to.  
Jade nodded in response, and the Milotic arched an eyebrow. "Interesting… Why did you tell me to wait?"

"Because I want to hear the rest of your tale."

The Milotic took a deep breath, as if she were deciding if she wanted to continue or not. Then she nodded. "After the first two days, they insisted that they had to go. They said that they had a dangerous group after them, and they didn't want us to get hurt. I respected that, but I told them that whoever did this was going to pay. He told me that they were too powerful."

Connor narrowed his eyes, trying to piece together what she was saying. _A group too powerful to beat..._ He looked at Vulcan, and he had a similar expression. _The Mafia?_

She began tearing up, making Connor's thoughts go haywire, losing all his focus. "We insisted that they stay with us. We were powerful enough. We could take anyone in the ocean…" She choked back a sob. "Then they came. A Gyarados, accompanied by many wicked pokémon... They broke down our base with no effort, crashing in while we all lied asleep."

She paused and stammered, "B-but… By the time we realized… We were too late. The Gyarados had already killed him, and the Jellicent and Tentacruel killed his partner… I tried to stop them, but the Gyarados almost killed me as well." She gestured to a large gash down the side of her neck that Connor hadn't noticed before. "Galatia was electrocuted by the Lanturn, and Hydro was incapacitated by the Carracosta. Narobi forced the Gyarados off of me with psychic, and I forced them to retreat with Dragon Pulse, but not a day goes by that I don't remember…"

She glanced at him again, but quickly turned back to the rest of the group. "So… I tried to avoid that ever happening again. You're the first team that we've rescued since then. We stick solely to exploration. No rescues. I don't know why we made an exception for you, but something about you… it's different."

Connor nodded slowly, still in awe that they were all breathing underwater, and she tilted her head. "...Were you being chased? Hunted down?"

He grimaced and looked away from her. "Y-yes… But not pokemon that can beat you guys. None of them, except maybe a couple, are water-types and almost none of them can swim well, from what we know."

She sighed and looked at him wistfully, and he couldn't stop himself from blurting out, "What kind of pokemon were on that team?"

He heard some surprised gasps behind him, but he didn't care. He wanted to know. "Who were they?"

She leveled her head down to his and stared into his eyes, making him shift nervously. Her head was massive, almost as big as his body. "His name was Pascal. A Swampert."

That caught Connor off guard slightly. _Another Swampert?_ He hoped that his surprise didn't show through his face, but the Milotic let out a disheartened laugh, seeming to be a completely different pokemon from a few minutes ago. "I know… A Swampert, just like you. Not the first species you'd think of, is it?"

Everyone watched silently, and she sighed, "His partner was a Ninetales. She was beautiful as well... for a fire-type."

He nodded and said, "That's why you guys kept asking about us… Last time you helped someone-"

"They died, yes. And we could do nothing to save them. That is the worst feeling of all. Knowing you did everything you could, but live on knowing that it wasn't enough." She quickly put on a smile and adjusted her posture in the water. "Never mind my blabbering. I've had enough depressing thoughts for now. Since you're all alive and relatively well-rested, let's return you to land, shall we?"

* * *

 **Bam! Chapter 2 is up. Let me know what you think of these mysterious new rescuers in the review section! Even if you're a guest, you can leave your feedback! It's always appreciated! Much Love!**

 **-PL**


	3. You're Not Alone

**-Chapter III: You're Not Alone-**

 **-Atlas-**

He had never felt more helpless. By the time Galvantula had made a line of webbing long enough to bungee jump into the water, that freak tidal wave crashed into the side of the bluff, and Celebi said that their energy signatures vanished. Just his luck. He slammed his fist into the ground and forced himself to his feet. Tyranitar had shielded him from the rock fragments, so he only got a few scratches and bruises from the tumble he took, but on top of the previous beating he got, he was barely standing.

He stumbled over the collapsed remnants of their old base and came to the edge of the cliff. He reached out and wept. "No… Why couldn't I have been stronger? I could've… I could've grabbed them." Then he gritted his teeth and thought aloud. "Why didn't I? I saw it in plenty of time, but my body wouldn't let me…"

 _I couldn't even protect my friends from being blown into the ocean by a few rock-types._ He thought bitterly.

He grabbed the nearest stone with his upper right hand and threw it with all his strength. It sailed through the air and vanished over the horizon. Mirage landed next to him and nursed her wounds. "...I think they're still alive."

He turned to her, dust streaked his face from the stream of tears. "How? They all got thrown off a cliff into the ocean, then got wiped out by a freaking tsunami! I'd be surprised if they weren't flattened against the bluff!"

She shrugged and embraced him gently. "It's alright, Atlas… Connor and Vulcan… They've both been through too much to die from something like that. And if there's anything either of them can do to ensure everyone's safety, you can bet that they'll do it."

He laughed weakly, his whole body screaming in pain. "But why didn't Connor use protect, or Vulcan use substitute to take the brunt of it, or anything?! We all just stood there like mindless idiots! And we don't even know if they all survived! I doubt Caroline can swim, and Vulcan's tail flame is probably extinguished, a-and-"

"Listen, Atlas… Bad things happen, and there's nothing any of us can do about it. So, when bad things do happen, you have to be strong. Not just physically, but mentally. Connor and Vulcan saved the world. Twice! Both times with all the odds stacked against them from the beginning. Bad things happened to them. They laughed, they cried, just like every one of us. Weren't you strong then? You didn't let any of us see you cry, even when they got dragged into the future and we thought they were dead!"

He scowled and grumbled, "Yeah… I guess." He looked out over the ocean as the sun set on the partially cloudy evening, turning the sky shades of orange and purple, the clouds glowing with yellow brilliance, like they were made of gold. _That's like a sick joke._ He said to himself. _Most of my remaining friends got blown off a cliff, and now you're showing us this beautiful sight._ Then he laughed at himself. Arceus, _are you even real? And if you are… where are you? We could use a miracle right now._

He sighed and looked at Mirage. "I just… I don't get it. We saved the world once. We thought we were good. That we'd catch a break and live normal lives, at least for a couple decades. Then Connor and Vulcan go and save the world again. It's like everything worked out again! Then we were all good for about a year. I evolved this last time, finally got used to these new arms…" He flexed his upper two arms and itched his back, but withdrew and winced at the pain of his torn muscles. "Then all this happens. Everything goes bad all at once. Vulcan gets kidnapped, hypnotized, and pitted against us, and pretty much all of the original recruits die. You and me are all that's left. Then Amber shows up with some super-powerful pokémon, and just as we think everything's going right again… That we'll be able to do the impossible-boom- _this_ happens. We all get separated and blown up. And if Mordred's still after us, which I'm betting he is, then we're as good as dead. We can't be separated and still win. That's not going to work. None of us are strong enough, except maybe Connor."

Mirage nodded slowly, then looked out over the ocean. "...It's a beautiful sunset," she observed.

Atlas stared at her incredulously. "Seriously? You focus on that? It's been nothing but good weather for the past two days. It's like a sick joke."

Mirage smiled slightly and sat down on the ground. "It _is_ ironic, isn't it? The sunset… How rare is it that we get to experience it like this. With the clouds reflecting back at us with a golden luster, the sky dyed an unnatural shade of purple…"

He raised an eyebrow as he looked over the ocean. "How can you stay so positive? After everything we've been through?"

Her wings drooped and she turned her head to face him. "There are others with worse lives out there. I don't forget that. We've lost a lot, but we still have our leaders, and most of our friends. And I don't know if you knew your parents, but mine are still alive, at least. Some others out there have lost everything, including their families."

She sighed and let out a weak laugh, as if she realized how ridiculous it sounded. "I know, I'm supposed to be all depressed and sad… And I am, don't get me wrong. But I just… I dunno… I think that in the end… everything will work out. We just have to work for that ending until it comes. So I won't dwell on the past. Even if the past was a couple minutes ago."

He scoffed and shook his head. "Yeah, right. How can anything good happen to us now? It's been one bad thing after the other. We saved the world, our leader disappeared for half a year. They saved the world again, then Vulcan gets kidnapped. We go to rescue him, we die…" He choked back a sob, "We get help afterwards… We get blown up. Literally."

Mirage shrugged and messed with the rubble on the ground. "You're right. It's certainly been a pattern, hasn't it? We do something good, then something terrible happens…" She looked at him and met his eyes. "But everything we've done so far… It was good followed by bad followed by good. I think that we're bound to do something great after the bad stuff passes every time. That's why I also think that we're going to be fine after this ends. We've just got to hold our ground."

Atlas saw Roy and Dusknoir in conversation in the corner of his eye, completely unaffected. Then another thought occurred to him out of the blue. He was kind of glad for the distraction, to be honest. "Why didn't Dusknoir or Roy get affected?"

Mirage scrunched her eyebrows at the strange sight. "That's a good question..."

She helped him up and supported him all the way up to Roy. The ghost casually reclined in midair and said, "Come to join the party, I see!"

"Why didn't that explosion affect you?" Atlas was already annoyed at Roy's complete disregard for what just happened.

Roy smirked, "I thought you'd never ask! Being a ghost, I can phase through almost any physical attack or object. It's quite handy for situations like this." The way Roy seemed so relaxed about this made Atlas furious. In spite of his judgement telling him otherwise, his fist shot forward, right at Roy's face, but the punch was stopped by a barrier made of pure psychic energy. Roy snickered and floated upwards again. "Now, now… Violence won't solve anything! Didn't your mother ever teach you that?"

Atlas gritted his teeth, and Roy's eyes widened innocently. "Oh, don't let my total lack of regard get to you. I just know that they're alive, and that's all the reassurance I need. They'll be back."

"How do you know they'll come back?" Mirage questioned.

Roy glanced at her smugly, but quickly looked over to where the cliffside used to be. "Ghosts can sense when others pass on. None of them died. That much is certain. And if Connor and Vulcan banded together…" He let loose a wild grin that made Atlas doubt this ghosts sanity. "Well, who knows what would happen? They beat Dialga when they were unevolved! Just imagine their strength now! In fact, the only reason we lost as bad as we did was because Vulcan was pitted against Connor, eliminating our two strongest members right out of the gate. With both of them, we probably could have gotten out practically unscaved. So… Yeah. They'll be back, unless they die along the way. Which is unlikely."

He wanted to argue, but what the stupid ghost said made too much sense. Connor and Vulcan were two of the toughest pokémon he'd ever met. But after Vulcan and Connor nearly killed each other… Atlas had a hard time trusting Vulcan, as much as he regretted it. He knew it wasn't Vulcan's fault… But he killed Rose, regardless of whether he was in control or not. And that wasn't something he could forgive very easily. She was the third recruit. He'd known her almost as long as Vincent.

Roy smiled some more. "Don't think that you're alone, muscles. We're all in this together, whether we like it or not. I have to remind myself every day."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You'll find out eventually. Mystery keeps you guessing." Roy smiled and sat straight up.

He stood up on his own and said, "Whatever." He took one step and his knees buckled. He fell to the ground and couldn't get up. He felt a strong tug in his gut shortly afterwards, and he was lifted upright. Roy's eyes were glowing blue when he looked over, and a similar glow seemed to surround him. The glow faded, and he moved his legs experimentally. He stepped forward and braced himself, but his leg held. His jaw dropped as he turned to Roy. "You… Healed me?"

"Oh, don't act all surprised. I can be nice when I feel like it." Roy's eyes peered out from beneath his ghostly hat. "And I am feeling especially generous today, in spite of the rather... depressing circumstances."

He saw Dusknoir leaning against the nearest tree and seemed to be in pain. He walked over to the heavyset ghost carefully.

Dusknoir opened his eye and looked down at him. "What do you want?"

"I dunno," Atlas shrugged. "I was just wondering what's wrong."

Dusknoir narrowed his eye. "Nothing that concerns you."

He took a deep breath as a sudden urge overcame him. "...Listen, Dusknoir… Sorry about… Y'know, earlier…"

"...I accept your apology. Now leave me be."

"What Dusknoir _means_ to say…" Roy spoke up, "is that he is frustrated, because as soon as he gets a chance to redeem himself, this whole 'explosion out of nowhere' happens. Even though it's not his fault, it shatters any hint of trust that Connor or Vulcan might have harbored. They aren't exactly the trusting type to begin with. After all, Vulcan didn't trust Grovyle until he saved his life three times! _Aaand_ he's kind of mad at you for grabbing his throat earlier. But maybe he's over it. I dunno."

Dusknoir heaved a massive sigh. "...Your partner would be correct in many of his presumptions. I know that this was not my doing. However, I also understand that your leaders do not trust me to begin with. And this will, as the Mismagius said, destroy any trust they had. "

"Why?" Mirage asked. "They're both really prone to giving second chances, whether it was to Team Skull, Grovyle, heck, even us! I don't think that they'll blame you."

Dusknoir nodded slowly while placing his hand where his chin should be. "That might be the case for those that proved themselves in other aspects-"

"It's team Skull's fault that all this happened. Our team dying. They led Vulcan into an ambush, which subsequently led our team into a fight we couldn't win."

Dusknoir's eye widened. "Oh… I didn't realize..."

Mirage smiled and waved her hand in a dismissive gesture. "It's alright. I mean, it's not like we don't trust Amber. She's the whole reason Vulcan and Connor are still alive. And she chose you to help. So there's obviously something there that she believes in. So… Until you give us a reason not to trust you… I'll trust you."

Dusknoir's eye widened in disbelief. "I… Thank you."

Mirage smiled and tilted her head down slightly. "It's not a problem. You want to help us. That's good enough for me. And besides, if you do try anything, you've got all of us here to stop you." Then she looked to the sunset. "So what now? If they aren't dead, then where are they?"

"I don't know," Atlas replied. _How will they find us? We can't stay here._

Tyranitar spoke up. "Well, this is fantastic." He turned his head to Amber, whose pitch black skin was glistening with freshly dried blood. "What do we do? We can't stay-"

"We must." She insisted. "We cannot hope to regroup if… if the others think we are still here when we leave." Her eyes widened slightly. "We could… Leave a letter or a note, in case they came back."

Briar knelt over the ruins and ran her hand along the dark boulders. Grass and flowering plants bloomed along the freshly exposed stone, and she turned to Amber. "Amber… I understand. I truly do. But that would risk compromising our next position, should any of our foes find it. You must think about more than-"

"More than what? More than us? We're split up, Briar! Straight in half! You know that we can't do this without everyone! Gaah!" Amber screamed. Whether it was from pain or frustration, he couldn't quite tell. Her tail flame flickered weakly, and her entire body seemed to change for a moment, her wings shrinking and her legs elongating, but the change was so brief that he dismissed it as his imagination.

Dusknoir pushed himself off of the tree and floated towards her. Atlas eyed him warily, but he hunched over and tried to pick her up gently. "Amber, we can't-" She pushed him back so hard that he nearly toppled over, and the amount of pain in her eyes made Atlas take two steps back. She seemed so broken. At a loss for what to do. She had no idea whether to stay or go. It was honestly a lose-lose for everyone, and he knew that she knew it.

She glared at Dusknoir and murmured, "Don't… do that… again." She grimaced. "I… can walk myself."

She forced herself to her feet and stumbled across the ruins of the bluff. She fell to her knees once she reached the edge, her back completely laced with leaf bandages. He was revolted at how torn her skin was. She couldn't even move her wings, because all the muscle in her back was torn and practically hanging off in chunks. Atlas sat in the grass and Galvantula spoke up for the first time in a while. "Hey, it's getting dark. We gotta make a decision soon."

Amber's back was to them, so Atlas couldn't see her face, but she heaved a massive sigh and wiped her face. "...We move on."

* * *

 **Unfortunately, school starts back up tomorrow, so I won't have a lot of time to work on Firestorm Battle Royale, but I will try my best to get one battle to you guys every week-two weeks. Speaking of that, if you aren't following it, be sure to give it a follow to stay updated with the latest battle royales!**

 **Alright, so the chapter... Let me know what you guys think with a quick review or PM! Even if you're a guest, feedback is always appreciated, and tbh it's what keeps me writing! Much Love!**

 **-PL**


	4. Treasures Untold, Stories Unfold

**-Chapter IV: Treasures Untold, Stories Unfold-**

 **-Connor-**

After that awkward introduction was out of the way, Cassandra and Galatia led them to an entirely different wing. They all gawked at the different colored coral walls with blue flames illuminating the hallways. Alice stared, wide-eyed, as a Mantine soared just a few feet over their heads and through the opposite window. "How big _is_ this place?"

"Not that big for an ocean base," Galatia clarified. "One of the perks of living in the ocean: Living space isn't in short supply, so your base can span for miles and nobody will care."

Connor smiled in sheer amazement as he swam with them. "Is that so? Sounds pretty cool."

Vulcan glided next to him and stared wordlessly ahead while Cassandra snaked through the next set of double doors and looked back to him. "Come on, we haven't got all day!"  
Connor looked out the top of the domed room they came into, and he was awestruck. It was massive, easily the size of Temporal Tower. Cassandra twirled around after Alice let go and looked down at them, the sunlight trickling down from above illuminating the room with wave patterns and reflecting off of the polished coral. He tilted his head and squinted at the bright light. "But… Wasn't it almost sunset? Why's it like midday here?"

She smiled and giggled. "Well, this isn't the sun as your world knows it. It's our own light source! It's an aquatic plant that emits a bioluminescence at least a thousand times brighter than ember moss!"

Basileus humphed and nodded. "Dilucid bractia... Impressive."

She winked at him. "Seems like you know what it is! Hee-hee!"

Connor found himself staring at her scales again as she floated in the water. This time they seemed to be black and red, not white and pink and blue like normal. He blinked and they were a gorgeous shade of green. He scrunched his eyebrows as Cassandra's scales continued to change to even prettier colors. _That's weird…_

He saw a faint glimmer in the corner of his eye, and his eyes widened when he looked down. "Whoa..."

Beneath him, the entire floor was covered in heaps of rare items and poké and jewels, each mound easily the size of the hill that Wigglytuff's Guild was perched on. He reached his hand out towards the mountains of treasure, but withdrew and looked at Cassandra. "May we…? Sorry, I've just... never seen this much before..."

The Milotic smiled. "Of course! Take whatever you'd like!"

Caroline shook her head. "Pardon?"

"Take as much as you want! We always have a surplus. It seems like such a waste to let it sit here unused."

Grovyle ran his hands through the mountains of coins experimentally, then looked around for a moment. "How did you get so much?"

"We're an ocean exploration team," she beamed. "You name the water dungeon, we've discovered or explored it first! Bottomless Sea, Surrounded Sea, Miracle Sea, Fantasy Strait, Tirtouga Isles-"

"Is that an Aqua Monica…?" Alice picked it up gently, as if it might shatter at the slightest disturbance. "I… I thought there was only one… Kyogre was guarding it at-"

"At the end of the Bottomless Sea, yes. We claimed that prize from Kyogre… seven months ago, I believe."

"But we have one back in Kangaskhan's storage… Connor and… one of our other members beat him a few months ago."

Connor nodded slowly. _Vincent and I… That's right. how do they have one?_

"Really?" The Milotic didn't sound that surprised. Then again, they were in this team's home environment. They must know a lot more than them about ocean-based stuff. Jade actually grabbed an exclusive item from the heap of gold and stared at it wistfully. Connor swam over to her. "What's that?"

"A rare item. It looks interesting." It was a pitch black armlet that had a crimson oval design on both sides. It was cold to the touch when he brushed his fingers against it. "Um… That's not an exclusive item for you, is it?"

She shook her head slowly. "...No. Not for my species. But… I will keep it." She put it in her paint-woven treasure bag. He didn't understand why the paint-based bags didn't dissolve in the water, or why they stayed together after Vincent...

He gritted his teeth and chided himself for thinking of his deceased comrade and friend at a time like this. _Come on… Not now, man._

"Cassandra, we cannot delay." Galatia insisted.

The Milotic stared at Connor, making him shudder uncomfortably. She quickly diverted her gaze and shook her head slowly. "I see no harm in letting them stay here a while longer to recover. After all, the Charizard's wings are too damaged for flight, and they all appear to be exhausted."

Galatia glanced back and forth between him and the Milotic, then said, "They can find their way back and heal on land. We will give them provisions and send them on their way."

Connor raised an eyebrow at her sudden defensiveness. _Why's she suddenly so against letting us stay?_

Cassandra glanced at him, then the rest of the group. "I believe that when hospitality is extended, it will be repaid in kind by those that received it." She nodded her head slightly. "They can stay here for a few more days, if they so desire."

Grovyle shook his head and swam up to meet her. "We do appreciate the offer, but we must return to land. The rest of our group is in danger back on Immanis."

"Immanis?" Galatia scoffed. "That's Unown for big. Why such a straightforward name?"

Grovyle crossed his arms as a smug smile appeared. "What do you call it? The mainland, if I'm not mistaken?"

Galatia narrowed her eyes, then let out a short laugh. "Fair point, land-dweller."

"Wait a minute," Connor broke in. "We have to get back to the rest of the team!"

Cassandra nodded slowly. "If that is your decision… It is your choice. We will guide you back to the mainland at your request."

"Of course," he replied. "My team's more important than anything right now."

"...Very well. Galatia, gather provisions."

The Empoleon swam through a hole in the coral wall, leaving them with the Milotic. She kept looking at Connor and diverting her gaze, and after the third time, he asked, "So… Do I look like that swampert or something…? 'Cuz you keep looking at me, and-"

"No! Not at all!" the Milotic hastily said. "It's nothing."

He shrugged and looked at Alice, hoping she would use her emotion sensing ability to figure it out. Her eyebrows raised and she pursed her lips. She glanced at Connor and gave him a reassuring nod. _She likes you._ At least, that's what he figured she was trying to say. His eyes widened, but he stayed calm. _She won't hit on me. Even if she does, I'll explain that my team's the priority._ He reassured himself. _She's really pretty, though… And Ocean Exploring sounds pretty cool-_ He shook the thoughts out of his head. "No."

Not realizing he said that last part aloud and had a strained look on his face, the Milotic tilted her head. "Is something the matter?"

He quickly shook his head and did his best not-stressed expression. "Nothing! ...Nothing's wrong. Just… Trying to figure out where my team went, or if they stayed on the bluff…"

Her eyes lit up for a second, but were quickly calm again. She blinked heavily and smiled. "As soon as Galatia returns, we will send you on your way."

They waited in awkward silence for about a minute before Galatia glided back in with two semi-large bags. She gave one to Connor and the other to Vulcan. "Provisions. Nothing too fancy. Basic cloth bags… Waterproof, of course." She patted Connor on the back, then turned to Cassandra. "Let's get these guys home."

 **-Roy-**

"I do admit that I was sort of being foolish in the way I acted earlier. I know this is a big deal to them… and me! But… I don't know. I know that we'll be fine. We have to be. After all, I can't even leave until my purpose is complete." He shifted his eyes towards Dusknoir before diverting his gaze. "Then again, I don't really remember… What that purpose was." They floated further behind the rest of the group, Roy making sure he was out of earshot when he spoke. "Blast it all…"

Dusknoir's eyebrow arched slightly. "You say you have a purpose?..."

"Well… Yes. And no. I don't know what it is… But… At the same time, I get hints. It's like pieces of my memories are being returned bit by bit. It's like a whisper in the back of my head… Just loud enough to where you can hear it, but it's all garbled and you can only understand a handful of sentences, and none of them make any sense. I… I want to know why I'm here." He began tearing up, but scorned himself.

Dusknoir narrowed his eye and looked down slightly. "...I presume that you haven't told any others of this. That you were not born a ghost."

He let out a short laugh. "Please, I'm already enough of a freak as it is. You don't exactly see a lot of ghost-types running around. Especially Mismagius. If I had a poké for every time some pokémon's called me a girl… Even when I was a Misdreavus..."

Dusknoir chuckled, "Hm-hm-hm-ha-ha! You'd be rich, no doubt!"

Roy smiled slightly. "Yeah… But no. I haven't told anyone else. The less they know, the better off they are."

Dusknoir tilted his head quizzically. "Then why trust me, whom you've only known for a few minutes -putting aside the fact that I have betrayed your team's trust and attempted to annihilate your leaders- over those that you've known for two years?"

Roy adjusted his ghostly hat and smiled wistfully. "Maybe… Maybe it's because I just need someone to relate to. I never had that on this team. The closest I got was Jade, since she was part-ghost, but she's always irritable and doesn't like me to begin with. Even so, Rose seemed to get my way of thinking… Even if it was only slightly." He grimaced. "But she's dead now. All that's left is Connor, perhaps Vulcan, and maybe Caroline. But she never had any real moments, did she? I haven't really gotten to know her..." He furrowed his brows. "Strange, now that I think about it."

"What about Atlas, the Flygon or the Lopunny?" Dusknoir suggested.

Roy sighed. "They're all much too… They just don't understand how I think. Alice is too wrapped up in emotion-land. I mean, seriously! That's all she talks about! She can manipulate emotions, sense emotions, blah blah blah! Not a ghosts kind of thing, you know? And then Atlas is mad at me because I'm taking this whole 'getting blown up thing' a little too well, which makes absolutely no sense, and… I don't know about Mirage. She has her moments, no doubt about that, but… I never really took time to know her either. She never got scared by my pranks. That's the only thing I really remember about her."

They continued floating behind the group, letting some distance build between them before Dusknoir replied, "I understand where you are coming from, Roy… I truly do. My parents perished when I was still a Duskull. But I am afraid that I don't understand what your 'purpose' is, in the context you've provided…"

He laughed skittishly. "I don't know either. But knowing that you do, in fact, still possess a plethora of knowledge from your last visit to this era, I figured you might be able to help me figure it out."

The heavyset ghost placed a massive hand on Roy's back and nodded. "Of course. I would be delighted to learn something new while finding a solution this situation!"

He looked up at the fellow ghost-type and closed his eyes for a moment. "Thank you."

Dusknoir retracted his hand, which was nearly as big as Roy's body. "It's not a problem, really!"

Roy heard sound from up ahead and saw everyone circling around and murmuring urgently. He and Dusknoir met each other's' eyes for a brief moment before nodding and soaring over to the commotion. Dusknoir shoved his way through, pushing aside Mirage and Tyranitar, and Amber was collapsed on the ground, her breathing sporadic and her skin turning from pitch black to dark grey. His eye widened. "No…"

Briar knelt over her and closed her eyes, her lip quivering. "Her wounds… They are too great. Even for her."

Amber's eyes were closed, and Roy floated forward. He felt her soul preparing to leave her body, and couldn't help but almost burst into tears. Then he furrowed his brows as a new memory emerged, more clearly than ever before. The voices echoed in his head.

" _We'll get you out of here! Just help me push!"_

" _...I love you, Castiel."_

" _Don't you say that! You're going to be alright! Just focus on my voice!"_

 _I've been too late once before… I won't be again._ He said to himself with determination.

He removed his Misdrea Cape and gave it to Dusknoir with psychic, dawning the most serious expression he had ever put on. His eyes narrowed and began glowing yellow and orange, his mouth downturning slightly. "Hold this. It's my favorite cape."

Dusknoir grabbed the garment out of midair, and Roy glanced at Briar. "Brace yourself. She'll be thrashing in a moment." and he dove into Amber's body without waiting for a response.

* * *

 **Okay, I know it's a bit early, and here's why: my whole school situation changed on a dime. I basically got pulled out of school by my parents and am now being home schooled. But since I now have a lot more flexibility, they're making me get a full-time job during the day, and work on school in the evenings, and during the in-between hours I will be working around my house. Due to that, my uploading schedule will vary most days. But I will still upload two chapters a week, and try to do the firestorm Battle Royale battles once a week as well.**

 **What this also means is that I won't have hardly any time for writing my stories. But I will have Fridays and the weekends off. So I can dedicate that time to writing.**

 **Now don't leave comments about this school thing in the review sections, please. PM me if you have any questions or concerns about that. Let's leave the review area for things concerning the story! ^_^ Okay, so that being said, let me know how the chapter was! I wonder what will happen to Amber! What is Roy's 'purpose'? Leave your theories in the form of a review if you wish, and I will see you all with the next Firestorm Battle Royale tomorrow! Much Love!**

 **-PL**


	5. Underneath the Shadow of Death

**Ugh... Mondays. Here's a Chapter to make it a little bit better! Enjoy!**

* * *

 **-Chapter V: Underneath the Shadow of Death-**

 **-Amber-**

Everything around her was darkness. She couldn't see anything, not even the light from her tail. The only thing she knew was that she was floating. She didn't know what direction, but she was moving the same direction the entire time.

She felt something drawing her in in the distance. After a moment, she saw a faint light, like a white ember in the void. As she drew closer, she started to lean forward, towards the light. She squinted and brushed her hair out of her face- _Wait, hair?_ She looked at her hands. They were tan and smaller, and definitely not clawed. She looked around and started calling out frantically. "Briar! Tyranitar! Galvantula! ...CELEBI!" Her voice was absorbed by the infinite darkness.

She began tearing up as the light drew closer, realizing what was happening. "I don't want to go… Arceus, please…"

Tears dripped from her face and remained suspended in the empty space. The light grew brighter, when suddenly she felt a strong force tug her the opposite direction. As soon as she stopped floating forward, she screamed in pain. A familiar voice echoed throughout the void. "You'll thank me later… Please try to understand."

Then the pulling sped up, and she opened her eyes, shooting awake and screaming in pure agony. Her vision was red and blurry, and her entire body burned. She wailed for it to stop, tears streaking down her face. She screamed and tried to get up, but someone was holding her down. She superheated her body in an attempt to get them off, but with no avail.

After the initial pain subsided and her wounds were bandaged, she looked around. Tyranitar had released her, and everyone was staring at her, wide-eyed, like something horrible had happened. She teared up as her thoughts became clearer. "I..."

Celebi stared at her, completely slack jawed. "Amber… You were dead."

Behind her, Roy hummed almost inaudibly. She gritted her teeth and glared at him, whether it was out of shock, joy, or anger, she didn't know. She was crying. That's all she knew for sure. "You… You brought me back. I was…"

He smirked nonchalantly and reclined in midair. "You were heading to the distortion world. Had you crossed over, you would have been gone for good."

Atlas murmured off to her left, "You can bring back the dead…?"

He shook his head in response. "I can't bring back the actual _dead,_ per se, but I can reattach souls to their host bodies if I act fast enough. The only thing about that is… Weeeell, it's not exactly legal, in ghost-law."

"Ghost law." Atlas echoed.

"And a couple other things," the Mismagius added. "But that's not important."

Amber just stared at him, dumbfounded as to why he helped her. "You helped me… Why?"

He made a face that clearly showed he thought the question was stupid. "'Why'? You're seriously asking that? You're kind of a big deal to all of us, you're the one that can do the spell things that heal us and erase hypnosis that even I can't, and you're the leader as of right now! Soooo… I _assumed_ that you wouldn't want to go down by bleeding out because of some rock shards. That would be a stupid way to die." Then he narrowed his eyes at her, making her shift uncomfortably and divert her gaze. His voice echoed in her head suddenly. _Your soul is weird-looking too… Not a Charizard, that's for sure._

When she looked at him, his expression didn't change, but he continued. " _Beside the point… I've seen too many people precious to me die before my very eyes. I was not going to lose another. Not when I could do something."_

Her eyes widened slightly and she placed a hand on her chest. " _But… You did that for me…?"_

He nodded. " _Yes. I could not stand back and do nothing. Not when I was there."_

She nodded slowly, deciding to thank him out loud. "...Well… Thanks."

Mirage buzzed forward and glanced back and forth between them. "Can we go back to the part where Roy can bring spirits back to their bodies?"

"I'd prefer not to tell anyone else, please. Especially Jade or Vulcan." Roy quickly blurted out.

"Why not?" Atlas asked.

His expression became more stern as he countered, "Because Jade doesn't like me to begin with, and if she finds out that I can do anything remotely close to bringing back the dead, she'll hate me even more for not saving her 'boyfriend', and pester me with questions about why didn't I do anything to bring back any of our team, blah blah blah… I'd prefer to not have any more drama in that department. Too much for me. And Vulcan's depressed enough about everything that he did. I don't want him thinking I could've done something to change it, when in all reality I can't."

Atlas clenched his fists, the long scar running down his face glistening from Briar's healing paste. "How can you be so… so..."

"Be so what? So selfish as to not give someone false hope? I can't do anything about our team, Atlas! If I could, then I would! But they're gone, whether _you_ like it or not! If you have a problem with it, then you can go to the Distortion World and bring them back yourself, or die trying for all I care!"

His eyes glowed slightly, but he blinked once and gasped, his eyes shooting open in shock. "I… I don't know what came over me… I'm sorry-"

Atlas humphed and turned away. "Whatever. Just leave us alone."

Roy's eyes glowed dimly. He stared at Atlas with so much pain in his eyes that she legitimately felt bad for him. He shook his head and stopped the glowing. Amber hadn't noticed it at first, but all of the shadows cast along the length of the ground and throughout the trees had begun condensing around him, and were just now being released. She heard him mutter something under his breath, but he shook his head and grimaced.

She beckoned Roy over, and spoke through telepathy. " _What did you see when you brought me back…?"_

Roy raised an eyebrow quizzically, the tears in his eyes receding. " _I don't exactly know… Your soul wasn't a Charizard. It was some other weird-looking pokémon. It was maybe a foot taller… No tail or anything… Looked like a fighting-type, maybe?"_

She sighed internally with relief, and Roy narrowed his eyes, his voice becoming more questioning, any signs of sadness completely covered up. " _Who are you? I mean, really? I've never seen the pokémon that you were in spirit, and I haven't met a Charizard that can do half the things you can."_

" _I'm Amber."_ She answered. She wasn't lying, technically.

He leveled an unconvinced look at her, his mouth downturning slightly. " _Really? I didn't ask your name. I asked who you are. As in why are you here?"_

She tilted her head slightly, attempting to play dumb, but he grinned smugly, his voice still echoing in her head. " _Surely you don't expect me to believe that you just want to help us out of the goodness of your heart? Nobody does that without asking for anything in return. What do you want from us?"_

She shrugged. " _Nothing. Your leader requested our assistance many years ago, before he made this team. Whether or not he remembers, I cannot tell."_

Roy's eyebrows shot up. " _Remembers?"_

She cursed herself silently, but played along. " _I don't know. He doesn't seem to remember us."_

He shrugged, dismissing the subject and looked over her shoulder, directly at Atlas. She glanced back and forth between them, and Roy's body shimmered slightly before stabilizing. " _...Nothing's ever good enough for them, is it? I bring you back, they're mad at me for not doing it earlier to someone else."_ He put on a smile, but he couldn't hide the pain in his eyes. " _But, as Atlas said, 'whatever'."_ He looked into the middle distance and mumbled, " _He's just hurt. He doesn't really mean it."_ He sounded like he was trying to convince himself of what he just said. Even to her, it sounded half-hearted. She decided to support him. After all, it's his doing that she was still alive. _"Roy… I've never met a ghost-type that's cared so much for others. To go breaking a law of nature for a stranger… It's quite phenomenal."_

His frown curled upwards the tiniest bit, and she could tell he was trying to hide a smile. " _Don't think I'll make it the norm. I don't like you in the way I think you're implying. I'm a ghost, remember? I don't have feelings of attraction to others."_

She nodded and smiled jokingly. " _I don't expect you to make it a normal occurrence. After all, it is dangerous."_

Dusknoir took notice of their telepathic conversation, eyeing them questioningly. Roy glanced around and let out a short laugh. " _Well, that's my cue. We'll continue this later."_

 **-Connor-**

When they left the massive chamber, they swam straight through the ocean, following the Milotic and Empoleon through tunnels and underwater caves illuminated by Cassandra's bioluminescence and came out from a tunnel in the bedrock at the bottom of the ocean floor. It was dark and cold. Connor shuddered once, his pupils dilating to compensate in the darkness. Cassandra and Galatia swam upward slowly, at more of a slight angle. He followed and rose slowly behind them, Grovyle and Basileus both clinging to his back. Alice latched onto Vulcan's back, much to their surprise, but nobody said anything. Caroline held on to Galtia with vine whips and was tugged along without effort by the Empoleon.

Most of the water-types in the ocean steered clear of them. Even the more dangerous ones like Jellicent and Tentacruel. He didn't mind. He was in no shape to be fighting, and he sure didn't want to be a burden to this team that rescued them. He was in his element. He should have been leading his team, but he was constantly falling short. He grimaced, but kept going. He had to make it back. He had to find his team. He would find them, one way or another, and he would make things right.

He felt the currents change to his right, but when he looked, nothing was there. He narrowed his eyes and nearly swam into Galatia. She had stopped as well, appearing to have sensed the currents. "...Stay close, everyone."

The group bunched together more tightly, and after a while, Connor saw a flicker of movement and used ancient power to collapse the nearest pillar onto the shadowy outline. Cassandra twirled around while Alice closed her eyes and sent out a strange pulse of light. She took a deep breath, then opened her eyes. "We're safe, I think…"

A blur of motion came from their left, and they all aimed their attacks in that direction. Caroline, Grovyle and Basileus used leaf storm, magical leaf, and razor leaf respectively, but they were all deflected by a bright blue bubble of air. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Wait! It's me!"

As the outline became clearer, Connor teared up while Vulcan's jaw dropped. "...Manaphy?"

The little guy beamed. "Yep!" His smile faded as he looked at them. "I saw the bluff get blown up… I shouldn't have left. I… I could've-"

Vulcan shook his head. "That's just more unnecessary danger that you could have been in. Did you see any of the others?" his voice broke, and tears began rolling down his cheeks. Manaphy shook his head. "No… I… I came looking for you as soon as I saw the explosion."

Vulcan nodded solemnly and gritted his teeth. "...Alright. I'm… I'm just glad you're safe."

Manaphy teared up. "Me, too… I'm glad you're all alright."

Galatia cleared her throat and gestured ahead. "Not to interrupt your... touching moment, but we have to move."

Basileus readily agreed. "She's right. We have to get back to land."

Vulcan placed a hand on Manaphy's shoulder. "Except you, Manaphy."

"What?" Manaphy's eyes widened. "Why?"

"You're safe here. The ocean is your home territory. I won't let you get hurt the way we were."

Manaphy started to protest. "But-"

"But nothing. This group is relentless and shows no mercy on any of us. You are staying here."

"But I can help! I'm strong!"

Vulcan teared up again and said, "Manaphy… I know you are… But this group is stronger than any of us… maybe even all of us. I won't let you put yourself in danger."

Manaphy's shoulders drooped. "But what about Wigglytuff's guild? Couldn't I stay there? I'd be closer to you guys, and-"

Vulcan pulled the little guy into a hug. "That's the first place they'd look for us. The ocean is too big for them to search, and it's where you're strongest. Right now, you need to stay safe. Promise me."

Manaphy sniffled and nodded slowly. "I… I promise, Vulcan…"

Connor decided not to say anything. He just let Vulcan and manaphy talk it out. He knew how much Manaphy meant to him. Of course, he cared about the little guy too, but Vulcan had that kind of connection with him that was super special.

"...We will watch over him in your absence."

Connor turned to Cassandra, who had captured everybody's attention. Galatia's eyes widened. "You cannot be serious-"

"This team is important to the world on Immanis, and this Charizard is the father figure to Manaphy. That much is apparent. I will do everything in my power to help them, with hope that they will one day repay us in kind."

Manaphy pressed his head into Vulcan's chest. "I don't want to go…"

"This is different, Manaphy." Vulcan promised. "We will see you again. I promise I will come back for you. I don't want to leave you either… But I can't let you get hurt if there's something I can do about it."

He shifted his gaze to Cassandra, "How far are we from Immanis?"

"Not far. Maybe thirty nautical miles. And then we can provide you a rollcall orb to-"

Connor did a mental face-palm. "How did I not think of that?!" He reached into his wonder bag and pulled out the little blue orb with a bronze bell pattern on it. "This will bring us all back together!"

He smashed it in his hand and closed his eyes. Nothing happened. He looked at the powdery remnants in the water. "How…? This brings all members of the same team together, no matter where they are… Unless one team is in a mystery dungeon, or we're underwater, but even then, we'd go to them. But they're smart enough to avoid mystery dungeons, and we aren't..." He diverted his gaze to the Milotic, who looked away guiltily. "In a mystery dungeon… right?"

She grimaced, but nodded. "We are."

"Wha...?! Why the heck are we in a mystery dungeon?!" He questioned. "All those do is waste time that we don't have!"

Galatia swam between them and spread her arms. "Connor, listen-" He pushed her aside and swam straight at Cassandra. He charged a focus punch, but she contorted her serpentine body and wrapped around him so tightly that he couldn't move. "Connor, listen to me!"

Her voice poured into his mind, calming him all the way to his core and making him relax. "Al… Alright. Why... did you bring us through a mystery dungeon?"

"Mystery dungeon properties are different in the ocean! They don't speed up or slow down time within their confines!"

"They did when we went through- Wait, how are we in a mystery dungeon if there are six members of Team Firestorm with us?"

"Ocean dungeons are different, like I said. Most of the restrictions and special properties of mystery dungeons on and around Immanis are only for land-based and semi-aquatic dungeons."

"That is very convenient," Basileus deadpanned. "Almost too convenient for me to believe. Where are we?"

"We are underneath the... Sea of Time." Cassandra said with a bit of hesitation.

* * *

 **Oh, snap! I don't really know where to go with this... Roy saw Amber's soul, Team Siren knows where the Sea of Time is... So many things happening.**

 **Oh, and Question: Do you think Roy is right in asking the rest of the team not to tell anyone else that he could bring back the dead, to a certain extent? Feel free to answer, or not, and let me know what you thought about the chapter!**

 **As always, hope you guys enjoyed, and I will see you in the next chapter! Oh, and about Firestorm Battle Royale: Go ahead and give that a look, and while you're at it, follow it if you haven't already! It's literally made from your suggestions in the reviews, so... yeah. Self-advertising at its finest. Don't hate me. Much Love!**

 **-PL**


	6. Time Heals Nothing

**-Chapter VI: Time Heals Nothing-**

 **-Connor-**

Basileus' eye widened as he looked straight up at the surface of the water, and Grovyle visibly shuddered. "Underneath…?" I thought-"

"Thought that it was unable to be found or swam through by any pokémon other than a Temporal Guardian?" Galatia finished the thought.

Basileus and Grovyle extended their leaf blades, the Sceptile glaring at them. "Who told you that?"

"I did." A new voice cut through the water. Connor whipped his head to the source of the noise, and a Lapras glided through the water. "I told them. They have been my friends for a long while. There is no need to worry, you two." She stared intently at Grovyle and Basileus, and their leaf blades slowly retracted.

Basileus eyed her warily. "Lapras. You know that you cannot-"

"I am aware, Basileus. But similarly as Team Firestorm is important to the mainland, Team Siren is important to the ocean."

"That doesn't mean-"

"Wait a minute." Connor interrupted. "Lapras, you're a Temporal Guardian, right? Basileus knows you?"

"...Yes, he does."

"But... he's from a different timeline. That means... he's a Temporal Guardian, too?"

Her eyes widened slightly, but she nodded in affirmation. "...Yes. He is a Temporal Guardian as well. ...Does this surprise you?"

He shook his head. "Honestly, amnesia really takes the surprise factor away after awhile."

"Good. There are many trials that you will face on your journey, each one more challenging than the last. This is not just a quest for your team's safety. It is for the sake of Immanis."

He rolled his eyes back and groaned. "Can we please catch a break? Y'know, for a few years? Maybe even a few decades?"

Lapras smiled gently. "Connor… You have much to learn. There is always evil in the world. It's our job to make sure that it doesn't get out of hand, like this so-called 'Mafia Group' has."

"Hold on! We're not gonna skip over that like it didn't just happen!" Alice interrupted. She stared straight at Basileus. "You're a Temporal Guardian?!"

Basileus nodded. "I am."

"What the heck, man?! Why didn't you guys just say that in the beginning! 'Hey, guys! We've got one of the best fighters on Immanis here to help you out! Oh, and he's a Temporal Guardian! How awesome is that?'" She raised her voice to the point of almost yelling.

"...I was forbidden from telling anyone. However, since _Lapras_ decided to tell you, I can elaborate further. I am a Temporal Guardian, one of the twelve beings chosen by Dialga to guard time. Two of them, one of them being Lapras, already reside in this branch of time, so in order for my presence to be here, I was stripped of most of my power. I am still immortal in the sense that I don't age, but the amount of authority I hold over time itself is very limited."

"But who told you not to tell anyone?" Connor questioned.

"Dialga expressly forbids it. We cannot tell anyone that we are Temporal Guardians unless we all agree, and even then, only to you and your team, because of what you did to save my leader two years ago."

"What about the rest of your group? The Insurgo? Do they know?" Caroline pressed.

"Yes. I was allowed to tell them."

"Why?"

"Because they are the pokémon chosen to travel through time with me to assist you."

Alice tilted her head in absolute confusion. "But how…? How are you a Temporal Guardian? I thought that they were all some big, muscular pokémon, or something… And you have an eyepatch. Even though it does make you more attr- _masculine_!" She quickly corrected herself and covered her face. "It… I don't know…" She was blushing uncontrollably, and Basileus' eyebrow arched up. "What about my eyepatch?"

"Can't you just heal it or something?" Caroline saved Alice from an awkward response.

"Yes. But I chose to keep it."

"But why? Is it just for the effect? I don't see any plus side to keeping an eye permanently out of commission." Caroline replied.

"Who said I can't use it?" Basileus crossed his arms and floated there weightlessly.

"I dunno… I just…" her voice trailed off, and Basileus spoke up. "That being said, I am asking you not to tell anyone until I feel they should be told. Understood?" He looked directly at Alice, and she nodded quickly. "Yeah. I got it."

He looked at each of them until they all agreed. Connor looked at Grovyle with disbelief. "Grovyle… you knew?"

The grass-type nodded slowly and replied, "Yes. I'm sorry, Connor… I was forbidden from telling anyone, just like my father."

Connor teared up, but nodded. He understood where Grovyle was coming from in saying that.

"Well… Allow me to assist your team, Connor." Lapras glided through the water and snatched up Alice, Caroline and Jade, each of them resting on her massive shell. "I will take you to your group on the mainland. Consider it my thanks for saving my master from darkness two years ago. And Basileus, I wish to speak to your Charizard... Amber, I believe her name is."

Basileus nodded silently while Connor shrugged nonchalantly. "...Sure. I mean, thanks!" He nodded and grabbed hold of her neck. Vulcan grabbed onto her shell, and Grovyle and Basileus held on with vine whips. Manaphy floated beneath them, and Lapras said, "Cassandra, take care of him. Manaphy… Your time will come. You are destined for far greater things than hiding in the shadows."

Then she took off, straight through the water and blasted out of the surface. She began gliding above the water, rapidly rising until she was several meters above the surface of the ocean. Alice stared at the Finneon and Basculin that were swimming beneath them, leaping out of the water beside them. "Lapras...? You're flying?!" she shouted above the sound of the waves beneath them.

"No!" Connor grinned. "We're crossing the sea of time!" _Just like old times... Except this time we're meeting our team._

The waves began rippling in the distance as Lapras picked up speed, and Jade stared at the deformed horizon with awe, where the sun was peeking over the edge of the horizon, and the daylight fading into darkness. Connor pulled her into a one-armed hug, ignoring her freezing-cold skin. "Pretty cool, huh?!"

She nodded, her jaw hanging open. "Incredible…"

"Hold on! I'm taking us through a temporal rift!" Lapras called back as a large seam tore through the air, making a green dimensional hole. Basileus secured himself to her shell and held on to Grovyle, and Vulcan murmured, "Just like old times…" And they vanished into a towering green portal.

 **-Roy-**

They continued walking for a little while before Amber stopped them. He kept thinking about those voices in his head. They were both so familiar, and that was the clearest memory he had ever received.

"Castiel…" He mumbled. The name sounded familiar, but he couldn't quite put his metaphorical finger on it. He kept getting lost in thought while talking to Dusknoir, much to his dismay. From the information he had gathered, the heavyset ghost-type wasn't as evil as everybody thought he was. He readily explained how he came to be Dialga's servant, how he and Grovyle practically grew up together and Dialga had taken them under his wing, per say, and ruled over him by using fear and force. He also admitted that at some points he did act on his own motives, oftentimes doing more harm than good, and he was not proud of it. And Roy couldn't sense living beings' emotions that well, since they operated on an entirely different emotional spectrum, but Dusknoir was a different story. He was being honest. He had truly changed in the time between the final fight in the hidden land and now. He knew that for a fact.

Roy was so deep in thought that he nearly bumped into the Galvantula, who had stopped and was looking around nervously. The entire group, minus the Team Firestorm half, looked a bit uneasy. He tried to sense anything wrong, but he couldn't. Then he felt a tugging sensation to his right, and a twelve foot tall dimensional rift opened, except it was the exact same hue of green as a time gear. He stared at it, not paying attention to anyone else. A large figure materialized in it, and a colossal Lapras shot out in the blink of an eye. It slid along the ground for at least fifty feet before coming to a stop. Then he saw what was on its shell, and he laughed. "I knew it! Ha-ha! I told you they'd be back!"

All of the others were on its back. Every single one. Briar rushed forward and helped Grovyle and Basileus up, while Alice leapt straight at Atlas, tears of joy streaming down their face. He held her in his arms and gave her a hug. "Arceus, where _were_ you guys?"

Vulcan looked crestfallen, while Connor looked moderately happy until he looked directly to Roy's left. He followed his gaze and saw Dusknoir, and he rolled his eyes slightly. _Oh... That's right… Connor doesn't like him._

Connor leapt off of the Lapras and used rain dance, spewing black clouds into the sky. Lightning began flashing as a maelstrom quickly formed, and he mega-evolved. Everybody stared at him while he strode forward through the pounding rain, radiating so much anger that Roy's very being told him to flee. _Oh, dear… Not good._

He sprinted straight up to Dusknoir and used an aqua-jet boosted punch, a torrent of light blue water spewing from the orange shells on his forearms, propelling him forward almost as fast as Mirage. Dusknoir was sent flying backwards, and Connor roared, "YOU LIED TO US!"

Dusknoir got up and coated his fists in ice, which accumulated on his hands from the rapidly freezing raindrops. "Connor… Listen to me-"

Connor's entire body shot forward faster than Roy's eyes could follow, and when Dusknoir tried to dodge, he was hit with a boulder from behind, as big as a shop in treasure town. He was thrown to the ground, and Connor slammed his head into the earth again. "AS SOON AS YOU APPEARED! THIS WAS YOUR FAULT!"

Dusknoir intercepted the next swing with his fist and fired a dark pulse from his stomach mouth. Connor shook it off, looking barely dazed. The storm picked up, the trees around them starting to shake and the rain came down even more forcefully. Dusknoir narrowed his eye and put his arm behind him in a stopping gesture. "No. Leave this to me."

Roy hadn't noticed, but Amber had gotten into a fighting stance, along with Briar, Basileus and Tyranitar. When Dusknoir said that, they backed away.

Connor's eyes showed brief confusion, but he used hydro pump to blast Dusknoir. He retaliated with Ice Beam, freezing the entire torrent of water mid-attack. He melted into shadows and used shadow punch repeatedly, barraging Connor from all sides. He growled and slammed both his fists into the ground, triggering an earthquake. Everybody was shaken clean off their feet, minus those that could fly. Dusknoir tackled Connor after diving out of the shadow realm and grappled his arms, holding him up against his chest while the Swampert's muscles rippled in an effort to escape.

"Connor, listen to me!" Dusknoir demanded. "That was not my doing! You must put old grudges aside! Do you not see that this so-called mafia group is trying to tear us apart?!"

"I don't care!" He used ancient power to slam another boulder into Dusknoir, then broke free from his grip. "Everything was looking good until you appeared! Then we get blown up by some Golem! Even if it's not your fault, I've been wanting to beat you senseless since Grovyle dragged you to the future! This is as good a time as any!"

He tried to use focus punch, but his fist went straight through Dusknoir's ghostly body. "Connor, I understand your rage. I truly do. But you must not allow that rage to consume you! Use your common sense! This is an attempt by the group that killed your friends to weaken us further! Did you ever stop and consider that?!"

"SHUT UP!" Connor ripped half of the earth around them out of the ground and slammed the boulders into Dusknoir from all sides. The heavyset ghost reappeared behind Connor in the blink of an eye and used confuse ray. Connor fell to the ground and struggled to stand up. The entire ground heaved as he used Ancient Power in a blind, confusion-induced rage. Dusknoir avoided the stones that flew towards him and punched Connor in the stomach several times before finishing with a blizzard attack, freezing Connor to the ground. Dusknoir took a deep breath, but Connor broke out of the ice within a matter of seconds and ran at him again.

Dusknoir extended his hand and used gravity. Roy felt his essence being dragged to the ground, and Connor slowly moved slower and slower until he was forced to the ground as well. Then the rain stopped. Connor de-evolved, and Dusknoir floated closer, making sure not to lose focus. "Connor… Have you come to your senses yet?"

"I've always had my senses, Dusknoir. I'm right not to trust you. I... will never trust you. Nothing you say can convince me... to ever trust you. As long as you're here, I will fight."

Dusknoir sighed and said, "I understand, Connor. I don't expect you to trust me after one day, especially after what just happened at Sharpedo Bluff. But for the time being, may we invoke a truce in which neither of us attack each other?"

Connor growled and strained to get up, but Dusknoir clenched his fist and Connor's arms collapsed from beneath him. "Do we have an agreement?"

"No!"

Dusknoir grunted once and forced Connor to the ground even harder. Alice started to move forward, but Roy shook his head. "Alice. No."

She stared at him and pointed to Connor. "He's hurting him, Roy!"

"Connor attacked first. And Dusknoir won't do anything that will permanently injure him. The rest of his group will make sure of that."

Atlas, on the other hand, wasn't so understanding. He ran forward and used foresight again, then tackled Dusknoir, breaking the gravitational field around Connor. Connor leapt up and ran at Dusknoir without hesitation, but the giant ghost-type growled and used psychic on Atlas, slammed him into Connor, then flew forward and used shadow punch, uppercutting Connor so hard that he toppled backwards and laid there, stunned, for a few moments. Atlas got up and tried running forward again, but Roy took away his healing factor on the down-low. All of his incantations were reversible. This battle was going on for far too long, and he didn't see any point in letting Atlas prolong it. Atlas' legs gave out, and he fell face-first to the ground.

Connor shook his head and stood up again, a look of absolute rage on his face. Dusknoir faced him fearlessly. This fight could honestly go either way. Then Dusknoir disappeared into thin air. Roy's eyes widened in shock, and Connor looked around frantically for a sign that Dusknoir was shadow-travelling. Dusknoir reappeared and used the shadows on the ground to hold down Connor's shadow, forcing him to the ground with multiple massive pitch-black hands that wrapped around him and dragged his outline to the ground. Connor strained against the force of the shadows, and he even mega evolved again. Dusknoir had to apply extra effort to the restraints after that. Connor's muscles rippled and the ground around him cratered downwards from the force he applied to stay standing. He roared in pain and used hydro cannon as a last-ditch effort, a torrent of water washing over Dusknoir. The shadows remained intact, much to Connor's and Roy's surprise, as Dusknoir floated there, completely unharmed. Connor was immobilized from the aftershock of the move, and Dusknoir used that opportunity to force him to the ground further.

Dusknoir floated closer to him as he de-evolved. "Connor, I will ask again: May we please make an agreement to end this pointless dispute?"

Connor growled and tried to punch Dusknoir again, but he floated just out of range and narrowed his eye before glancing at Amber. "I expected as much. May you or Grovyle finish this?"

Amber nodded and walked closer to Connor as Dusknoir released the shadow hold. "Hey…" He glared at her with absolute hatred, and Grovyle walked up beside her. "Connor, listen to me. You're scaring your teammates. Look at them!"

Connor gasped stared wordlessly at everyone. The fear in their eyes was apparent. He fell to the ground and gritted his teeth while Dusknoir patched the wounds on his arms with random shadows. As soon as Dusknoir grabbed a shadow from the ground and drew it in, his wounds healed over, his ghostly skin stretching to cover any open wounds. Roy gasped. Okay, I need to learn how to do that!

"Connor, you need to suck it up. Dusknoir is with us. With me. I need your word that you'll at least tolerate that and not try to attack him at every given opportunity."

"...Fine. For you, Grovyle." He turned in Amber's general direction and said, "So… Lapras said she wanted to see you, or something."

She stumbled over to the Lapras. "I know. Lapras, what are you doing here?"

"I am merely lending my assistance to Connor's friends. Nothing more, nothing less."

"You know that I don't believe that." Amber growled.

Lapras smiled smugly. "I don't require you to believe it. My intentions are my own until it concerns you, and that is all that matters. Now, if you'll excuse me..."

A green outline of a time gear appeared in midair, then expanded until it was a twelve foot tall portal. It pulled at the Lapras until she was drawn in, then it vanished in a flash of light.

Amber clenched her fists and turned back to the entire group. "Everyone… Welcome back." She shifted her pupils to Connor, who was still collapsed on the ground. She sighed with… was that disappointment? He couldn't quite tell. He wasn't in sync with the emotions of living beings. "Connor… Dusknoir is on our side. He was not to blame, nor is he to blame for any unfortunate events that happen from here on out. Do I make myself clear?"

Connor nodded, but didn't look her in the eyes. "Yeah. Got it."

She looked him in the eyes, cupping her hands under his face and grabbing the sides of his head to make him look at her. Roy noticed Tyranitar and Galvantula barely leaning towards them, as if they were anticipating a fight. "When we find a place to rest… You tell me what happened."

Connor stared at her with a scowl, and a spark lit between them. An actual spark. Connor's eyes radiated a blue hue that seemed to intensify and zap Amber's blazing aura. She stumbled backwards and Connor shook his head vigorously. "Um… Yeah. Got it. When we're safe, tell you what went down." He looked at the rapidly dimming sky and turned to face her. "Where are we, exactly? I don't recognize this place."

"A few miles east of Green Meadow." She grumbled.

He nodded approvingly. "You guys were bookin' it."

"We were moving quickly, yes. I sensed multiple hostile pokémon closing in when we left treasure town." She replied.

"How did you guys make it through unnoticed?" Caroline questioned. "That explosion was big enough to get anyone's attention in treasure town, and everybody knows it's Connor and Vulcan's home. It'll probably be the biggest investigation by the police force in decades."

"We shadow-travelled to the outskirts with the help of Dusknoir and… and Roy." Amber said his name with a hint of nervousness. And she was well within her rights to. She was dead. And he brought her back in spite of his judgement telling him otherwise.

Connor picked up on the nervousness and glanced suspiciously between her and Roy. Amber placed a hand on his shoulder. "It's alright. We're almost safe for the time being. Only a few dozen miles remain until we reach the great mountain range. It shouldn't be more than two days' travel by foot. Once we're there, we should be safe."

His shoulders loosened up, but the same suspicion was still in his eyes when he looked at Roy. "What's wrong, Connor? You don't trust me?" he questioned.

"No… I trust all of you… You're all part of this team. I trust each and every one of you guys with my life."

"Well, in my opinion, you couldn't have picked a better group!" He bragged.

"But what happened in the ocean? How did none of you drown?" Celebi asked.

"It's a long story. Let's… Let's just get to the mountains." Connor replied.

He sighed and turned back to Dusknoir. "Well… Looks like everything isn't as dandy as I thought it would… Hm?"

He felt a strong energy pulse in the forest. "Did you feel that?"

"Feel what?" Dusknoir questioned.

Roy looked around, but nobody else seemed to notice. He floated backwards, towards the treeline behind them. "...I'll be right back." And melted into shadows.

He traveled through the shadow realm until he came to the source of the energy surge. When he rematerialized, he was nearly flattened by a flying tree. With a yelp, he phased through it. He whipped his head around, looking for a big grass-type of some sort to be using frenzy plant or power whip, but what he saw surprised him even more.

A Ninjask and Scizor were weaving through the flurry of vines and branches, trying to get at a small... Ralts? He didn't expect that. It uprooted entire trees and tried to slam them into its attackers, who were dodging like they had been trained in tree-dodging-jitsu. Roy floated backwards and turned invisible, deciding to observe. _Huh. Not what I expected. Let's see what this Ralts can do._

With a fearsome shout, the Ralts unleashed a moonblast attack. A large sphere of rock materialized above it and sent down hundreds of pink rays of light that sought out the opposers and knocked them both out in one strike.

Roy's jaw nearly dropped. _Moonblast?! How in the world did it-?!_ He sunk into the shadows and drew closer. He could feel its power and awareness from where he was, in spite of its small stature. As soon as he got within ten feet of it, it turned directly towards him and closed its hand, making him freeze in place. "Who are you?!"

"You can see me?!" He shook that thought aside. "You're a girl?!"

She scrunched her eyebrows and raised her arm. He gasped as he was drawn out of the shadow dimension and into the real world. He felt his entire spirit being condensed, so he shouted out. "Enough! I'm not here to hurt you!"

The Ralts loosened her psychic grip on him, but he was still immobilized. She was far more powerful than he was, that's for sure. "Why are you here? Who are you?"

"Why am I here? Take a look around. You leveled a forest. Kind of hard to miss. And my name's Roy. I'm a Mismagius."

"Roy…" She released him and knelt on the ground. "Your aura is strong. But you're not alive..." She didn't look up at him. "Why is that?"

He shrugged slightly. "I dunno. I'm a ghost-type? That might be why I'm 'dead'."

She nodded slowly and stood up. "That explains it, possibly…" She tilted her head and pointed just over his head. "Behind you."

Roy turned around but saw nothing. "What? What're you..." When he turned back to her, she was gone. "...talking about? Where'd she go?" He used psychic to trace her energy signature. Not hard, since she had an aura almost as powerful as Connor's. She had teleported while he turned around. "Woooow. So mature…"

He rolled his eyes, briefly staring at the unconscious Scizor and Ninjask, but floated forward, following the energy surges.

* * *

 **The chapter's a day early because I'll be out of town starting tomorrow, and gone until Monday afternoon.**

 **...Well... Connor's being difficult. Isn't that lovely. And Basileus is a Temporal Guardian! Wow! But more questions are ready to be asked: Who is the second Temporal Guardian that resides in that timeline? Who is that absurdly powerful Ralts? So many questions! Ugh! As always, hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Feel free to leave your comments, theories, questions and concerns in the form of a Review or PM, and I will get back to you as soon as I can!**

 **Also, about Firestorm Battle Royale: I will upload a new battle every Monday. So look forward to it, and give it a follow if you haven't already, so you can be the first to suggest a new fight! (Self-advertising again, I know...) Much Love!**

 **-PL**


	7. Power in Firestorm's Corner

**-Chapter VII: Power in Firestorm's Corner-**

 **-Roy-**

 _Geez, you'd think she'd be tired by now…_ He followed the energy surges throughout the forest, taking turns whenever she tried to lose him. Sometimes she'd use substitute to throw him off, but show no signs of weakening or tiring out. Normally using two of those would make any pokémon too exhausted to move, yet alone continue teleporting. But nevertheless, he forged on. He desperately wanted to know why she was so powerful when she wasn't even evolved yet. He used psychic to send another scanning pulse, but froze when he felt it. Something was wrong.

He turned intangible as the Ralts teleported right above him and tried to use magical leaf. He charred the leaves with mystical fire as they passed through him and looked around for her. She had vanished again.

She appeared right in front of him and used psychic to throw him to the ground. She landed on the ground gently and levitated forward. "Why do you keep following me?"

"Because you're more powerful than any other pokémon I've met. I want to know why."

She laughed lightly. Not a cruel laugh, but a gentle one. One that made him… happy? He shook his head in confusion. _How is she…?_

 _I'm not doing anything._ He gasped and looked up at her, but she smiled and sat down in front of him as if nothing had happened. "What's up?"

"Uh… Nothing much?... Stop changing the subject. Why are you so strong?"

"I dunno."

"Okay…" Her sudden attitude change was enough to catch even him by surprise. "Well, you can open your eyes. I'm not _that_ bad-looking." He let out a nervous laugh.

Underneath her green hairdo/helmet, her eyes were shut like Uxie's.

She shook her head. "Nuh-uh. I can see you easier like this."

He tilted his head quizzically. "Most pokémon can see me perfectly fine. Am I still invisible, or…?"

"Psychics can't see ghost-types with their eyes, so I prefer tracking by psychic signature. Kinda like how you were following me."

"Oh. That's… unusual."

"So where did you come from?"

"I could ask you the same thing, young lady!"

"Young lady?" Her tone lost any signs of friendliness. He smiled nervously. "Um…"

She smiled again. "I'm kidding! It's a joke! Relax!"

He let out a nervous laugh again. "Right. Heh. Well, I felt a powerful energy surge when you were fighting those two pokémon earlier… Speaking of which, why did they have any business attacking you?"

"They were trying to capture me. Some guy's orders." She clenched her fists and smiled defiantly. "I wouldn't let 'em, though! I'm way too tough!"

Roy nodded and smiled. "Of course. Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but Moonblast is only able to be learnt by your final evolved form, and cannot be passed down via egg moves or Electivire's shop. How in the world do you know it?"

She shrugged. "I'm a special case. Kind of like how your Cacturne friend knew mean look. We shouldn't know certain moves, yet we do."

Roy felt all the color drain out of his face. " _Nocturne_ … How did you-"

"I can read minds. And memories." She blushed slightly. "It's... a bad habit. I'm working on it." Her smile faded. "And… I'm sorry about your friend."

Under normal circumstances, any apology like that from a stranger would make him more upset than grateful. But she seemed truly sorrowful, as if she shared his mind for that moment, which she probably had. "It's alright. On another note, I never got your name, miss…?"

"Dawn."

"Dawn! Lovely name. Like the stone that your species would use to evolve into a Gallade!"

She tilted her head slightly, but nodded quickly. "Oh! A Gallade! Right!" She paused, then took a deep breath. "Only boys can evolve into a Gallade, though."

"Of course! But a female such as yourself can evolve into the elegant Gardevoir! Now that I think about it, male Gardevoirs have it way tougher than me when it comes to being mistaken for a girl. Hee-hee!"

She didn't seem to get his joke, but he gave it a second to sink in. Her head continued to face straight forward. "You don't… look like a girl."

"...I don't?"

"Nope! You look like a boy to me!"

"...Huh! Thanks!" He leaned against the nearest tree and used psychic to form two seats out of wood in the shade. "A seat for the girl that doesn't think I look like a girl!"

She levitated forward and stumbled over it, but she sat down and leaned back. "Roy… Thanks."

"For what?"

"Being so nice to me. Most pokémon aren't this nice."

"I don't see why. You seem approachable enough, with the jokes and all. And on top of that, look at yourself! You're a Ralts that can level a forest! I wouldn't want to be on your bad side!"

A new voice echoed throughout the forest. It was just loud enough to catch his attention. "Roy…!"

He perked up and gasped. "Oh… Wow, how did I forget-?!"

"Forget what?" She asked.

"My group! I didn't tell them I left!" He started to fly forward, then turned back around. "You know… You should come with us!"

She shook her head slowly while backing away. "I… I can't."

"Well, if somebody's sending pokémon out to capture you, you might as well travel with us! We're kind of the most powerful team on Immanis! Even if we're low on numbers at the moment."

He felt a tingling sensation in the back of his head, and the Ralts nodded slowly. "...If you insist. But I do not promise to stay."

"Of course! If you don't like your experience, it's on the house! And I promise, no shady business deals that involve selling your soul to me!"

She laughed and reached forward. "You're funny." He extended the ghostly robes around his body and formed a smoky, translucent hand. "Thank you. Many don't seem to get my sense of humor." He grabbed hold of her small arm with a smile and melted into shadows. That honestly went much better than he expected. She would make a powerful ally.

 **-Connor-**

"Roy!..." He clenched his fists and turned around. "Where did he go?! He just vanished?!"

Amber ran her hand along the ground and ran a small scoop of dirt through her hands. "I don't know…" She tensed up and let the dirt fall to the ground all at once. "But I feel a massive energy signature closing in fast." She got into a fighting position. "Brace yourselves!"

Everybody got back to back, forming a circle with each member facing outwards. Connor narrowed his eyes, peering into the dimming light of the forest. He saw shadows begin moving and swirling, and he relaxed. "It's just Roy."

Amber shook her head. "The aura generated by that shadow is much too strong to be his."

Connor readied ancient power, waiting for the shadow to materialize. The shadow slowed down as it approached them, and Roy popped out of the ground. " _Pop_ goes the Mismagius! Hee-hee!"

"Where did you go?!" Connor dropped the boulders and surged forward. Roy stopped his movement with a psychic barrier. The force field surrounded him like a net and slammed him to the ground several times. Roy's eyes widened. "Oh… Um… Heh. Sorry."

He stood up and rubbed his head. It didn't actually hurt him too badly, but it did stun him how hard he was thrown to the ground. "Geez, you get a power boost or something? How'd you do that?"

"Actually… There's something I have to tell you." Connor arched an eyebrow, and a Ralts floated out from behind him. It waved. "Hi."

He glanced back and forth between them. "Roy… Where did you-"

"I'm Dawn." She said.

He waved slightly. "Um… Okay… Hi. I'm Connor." He directed his attention back to Roy. "Where did you find a Ralts? And why did you think it was a good idea to bring her to us?"

Roy smirked. "Oh, just wait until you see what she can do! I saw her in action! She practically leveled the section of the forest I found her in!"

He blinked heavily and stepped backwards slightly. "What? That's… are you sure you-"

"I know what I saw, Connor." Roy confirmed. "Now, she offered to come with us, but also said that she makes no promise to stay."

Connor nodded. "Alright. Dawn, I have to warn you about what you're getting into by joining us."

"You're going up against a legion of dark-types, led by some Bisharp named Mordred." She said. "That's why you're getting help from all these other pokémon."

Connor narrowed his eyes, and Jade spoke up for the first time since the ocean. "Roy, I don't think it's wise to bring her here. How does she know who these pokémon are, and that we are fighting the Mafia? Even the most honed psychics can't read minds that quickly."

"Jade, she's not like most psychics. She is so strong… Much more powerful than any other pokémon I've met."

"Even so, we don't know for sure if she is on our side. What would happen if she were to wipe us out while we sleep?"

"Then we make her prove it to us! Alice can sense emotions, right? She can tell if a pokémon's sincere!"

Alice nodded slowly. "Jade… I think she's telling the truth. She doesn't intend to hurt us."

"My point's proven," Roy said. "We can teach her how to control her power while she journeys with us."

Jade rolled her eyes with a massive sigh. "We don't have time for-"

"Time? Time has never been on our side, sunshine! It's always a race! There's not enough time to stop Temporal Tower from collapsing! Not enough time to-"

"What is your problem?" Dawn growled at Jade, cutting Roy off. "I show up for two minutes and you already think you know me?"

"On the contrary. I don't know you. That's what worries me." Jade glared at her.

"You don't have to be worried! I can take care of myself!" Dawn piped up.

"I know." Jade narrowed her eyes. "I can feel the raw power radiating off of you like a furnace. That tells me more than words ever could."

Dawn's eyes shut even tighter and she started mumbling to herself. Roy floated forward slightly. "Hey… Are you alright-"

"I'm fine!" The entire forest around them creaked and groaned as a slight pink hue formed around the century-old trunks.

Roy sighed and leveled an unamused look at Jade, but gently said, "Hey… It's alright. She's always like that. Don't take it personally."

Dawn nodded slowly and rose from the ground, the forest coming to a standstill once again. "...Connor. I want to be a part of your team. Give me a chance to prove that she's wrong about me."

He sighed and turned to Vulcan. Apparently neither of them had noticed the forest being shaken. He seemed lost in thought, his eyes watering uncontrollably, but shrugged. "Why not?"

He nodded and turned back to her. "Alright. Welcome to the team, I guess. Normally it's a bigger deal, but… Y'know..."

She smiled as a small black badge with golden wings and a grey gem in the middle shimmered into existence, sticking to her skin like velcro. She ran her hand over it and gasped. "A real badge…" She grinned and turned to Connor. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I won't let you down!"

She flew forward and gave him a hug. She was so small that she couldn't even wrap her arms around his forearm, but she clung on like an Aipom. He smiled. "It's no big deal… really. We're glad to have you!"

She let go and floated back to Roy, mere inches off of the ground. His eyes followed her until she stopped, but other than that, he looked as disinterested as he always did.

Everybody else had stopped for them, but now that the introductions were out of the way, Amber said, "Before we begin introducing everybody, we have to make a little more progress. I don't want to be stuck without shelter as long as I can help it."

Dawn floated forward. "Where you guys going?"

Amber narrowed her eyes warily. "The great mountain range…"

Dawn nodded. "I can teleport us there!"

Amber's eyes widened. "All of us? Even a dark type like Tyranitar?"

Dawn tilted her head. "Who's... Oh, that's easy! It's not even twenty miles!"

Her eyelids glowed, and before he could stop her, Connor felt like he was being compressed and launched from a slingshot. Everything around him became warm and glowed white and gold, zooming by in a bright blur. It was basically the opposite of shadow travelling. Not even a moment later, reality snapped back to normal, and they were standing in front of a towering mountain. Everybody stumbled and fell over, minus Celebi and Dawn. She rubbed her head and scrunched her eyebrows. "Ugh… Not as easy as I thought… But we're there..."

Roy and Dusknoir were both lying on the ground, smoking. Connor ran over to them, falling on his face at least twice in the process due to the disorientation. Dusknoir grunted as the shadow cast by the mountain condensed around him, seeping into his skin. The smoking stopped and he floated upright. He placed his hand on Roy, and he was healed as well, the shadows becoming part of his skin until he looked perfectly normal.

"Arceus-forsaken psychic types… She should know that ghost-types can't teleport like that. She's lucky we weren't weaker spirits, otherwise we would have been blasted apart."

Connor stumbled over to Dawn, who turned to face him with a smile. "What'd I say? I told you I could do it!"

"And you almost killed two of our own in the process. Dawn, you really have to pay more attention to others. Ghost-types can't teleport the same way other pokémon can. That's why they shadow-travel."

Her smile faded instantly. "Are they alright?"

"He's fine now. But you really have to..." He gasped as he realized something else. "Jade..."

"What?"

"Where's Jade?"

He looked around for her, and sure enough, Dusknoir was leaning over her, drawing in shadows to heal her. Her eyes flew open and she immediately glared at Dawn. "You… Are you trying to get us killed?!"

Dawn backed away as a snowstorm began swirling. "I-I didn't know about that whole ghost-type thing! Honest!"

"You didn't know?! Every psychic-type should know that ghost-types can't teleport by psychic warping!" Dawn's eyelids glowed green, and Jade froze mid-sentence, as if time stopped for her. **(AN: Imprison in Mystery Dungeon is OP)** "Please stop… I didn't know. Honest! I just wanted to help!"

Jade's breath returned and she stared at the Ralts in disbelief. "How did you…?"

Amber stepped between the two and smiled in an attempt to ease the conflict. "Dawn, you saved us a great deal of time and energy by transporting us here. Even if you were not aware of ghost-types limitations… no one was fatally harmed, so I see no need to be upset."

Jade glared at her and sunk into the shadow realm. Amber clasped her hands together and looked around. "Tyranitar! Would you do the honors?"

He smirked and rubbed a strange marking on his forearm. "Of course." He was enveloped in a purple sphere that grew several feet larger in diameter, and when it shattered, he was easily eleven feet tall. He was twice as tall as Basileus, who was the next tallest one there. Tyranitar's horns became more prominent, his chest spikes expanding into crooked stalagmites. He radiated so much power that Connor's skin tingled. Roy and Dusknoir both shied away, and even Atlas looked nervous. Well, that's understandable. Tyranitar was probably triple his height and four times as big, mass-wise. He turned and faced the mountain. "I'm always looking for a reason to cut loose."

They all backed away as he was surrounded by a dark red aura. Dawn looked about ready to faint from the energy wave that hit them as he charged forward, straight into the mountain.

* * *

 **Alright, I'm back! Most of you probably didn't know I was gone, but whatever.**

 **Well... They got a new teammate! That's the first of the third Gen Recruits! (The ones recruited after the great battle)**

 **So I thought about that whole psychic warping thing being harmful to ghosts, and sometimes fatal, and I decided to go with it. So let me know what you think about it! Also, more questions! Why is Dawn so powerful? Why is Jade so against her already? So many things about her yet to be answered! Let me know your theories, as well as any questions, comments and concerns about the chapter, or the story in general, in the reviews section!**

 **Also, Atlas Vs. Lucerna is up in Firestorm Battle Royale! It's a good one, you don't want to miss it! Much Love!**

 **-PL**


	8. A New Threat

**-Chapter VIII: A New Threat-**

 **-Connor-**

When Tyranitar charged forward, the entire earth shook. When he hit the solid wall of stone, he expected Tyranitar to begin digging, or use bulldoze, but what happened was waaay cooler. He ran straight through the wall like it was made of water. He pushed for about twenty feet, then glowed so bright that Connor had to look away. When he felt the heat die down, the inside of the mountain glowed red hot as molten rock dripped from the ceiling. Tyranitar emerged from the tunnel and slung cooled lava off of his legs. "There. It should be hardened in a minute."

Connor moved closer to the entrance and got a good look. After the end of the ten foot tall tunnel, the entire mountain looked like it was hollowed out in a massive upside-down bowl shape. The ground was magma, but he used water gun to cool the liquid rock into stepping stones.

"This is incredible!" He called back. "We're going to live in here?"

"For now." Amber strode into the newly formed cavern behind him, ignoring the knee-deep magma she was wading through. "Do you mind making a blizzard to cool this down? We shouldn't be outside any longer than necessary."

He nodded. "Yeah. Give me a sec." He used water gun once more to make a good-sized platform, then concentrated on making a swirling blizzard. His skin frosted over and the snow began falling from the stone above. He concentrated it and willed it to swirl around the cavern, cooling off the walls and floor. Amber stepped onto his section of stone as the earth around her began to harden and condense.

She stepped closer to him after a moment, which made him flinch, but he pressed on until the stone looked like it had been there for centuries. Afterwards, one-by-one, the rest of the team came in. Dusknoir and Roy came in through the wall, while everybody else filed in through the main entrance.

"How will this protect us?" He asked. "That entrance is big enough to let just about any pokémon walk right in."

She smiled as if his confusion amused her. "Celebi?"

The little pink time-travelling pokémon appeared in front of them. "Yes?"

"Once everyone has come in, can you seal the entrance please?"

Celebi nodded. "Of course!" She sighed and looked at him. "I'm sorry that our reunion couldn't be under better circumstances, Connor. I do hope that we will be able to stop this criminal organization."

He shrugged slightly. "Ah, it's fine…" He didn't want to let on how upset he really was. Most of the original recruits had died because he couldn't take out Vulcan. Sure, it was primarily that group's fault, but Roy had warned him. _**It's either you or him…**_ And he chose Vulcan.

"It's not your fault," Celebi promised. "Even if you _think_ it is… It's not."

He just nodded and mumbled. "Yeah, I know…" He didn't believe it. It was his fault for not getting to Vulcan sooner. He could have done _something._

After everybody filed in, Connor expected it to be crowded. But Celebi used Ancient Power to make the vertical walls into tiered steps with stone platforms that appeared to serve as beds, making the entire space easily twice as large. Grovyle, Basileus and Briar all grew a breed of insanely soft grass on the stone just by running their hands along the ground. Tyranitar braced himself and summoned a cluster of crystals from the ground that melded into one giant sphere. Amber placed her hand on it, and it began glowing at just the right brightness to where he could see clearly, but didn't have to squint. Dawn just floated over by the exit, seeming to be in meditation. He walked over to her while Galvantula strung the glowing crystal from the ceiling. "Hey, you alright?"

She nodded. "I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

"I dunno… You haven't opened your eyes the entire time I've seen you. That's kind of weird."

"I prefer using my psychic senses to see. It allows me to see the aura of other beings, and it is more reliable than physical sight."

"Oh. That makes sense, I guess."

"Thank you for understanding." He didn't hear any sarcasm in her voice.

Alice came up behind them. "Hey, guys… What's up?"

He shrugged. "Nothing much. Why?"

"Just thought I'd introduce myself to the new member." She said. She extended her hand and Dawn took hold of it gently. "Nice to meet you Alice. I'm Dawn." She beamed.

Alice nodded, not even paying attention to the fact that she never mentioned her name to the Ralts. "Nice to meet you too." She heaved a massive sigh. "Sorry… About all this. It's been rough the past couple days."

Dawn nodded slowly. "I know."

Alice pursed her lips and excused herself. Dawn shifted uncomfortably, but she stood tall when Caroline introduced herself as well, followed closely by Mirage.

Atlas came up a little while later. She introduced herself and they talked about a couple things before he went back to his bed and lied down. His wounds were still healing up, and his skin still glistening from Briar's healing paste.

He turned back to Dawn and smiled, trying not to let his sadness show. "Don't worry. This whole thing is one big mess right now, but I think it'll work out."

She tilted her head up with a slight smile. "Me too."

 **-Victor-**

He paced in front of the map of Immanis painted on the wall of his meeting area. It was a moderately large space, just large enough to fit a Steelix, if it squeezed in through the door. The floor was made of a dark volcanic rock, almost as dark as his plumage. The table in the center of the room was a simple oak round table with a chandelier hanging above, bathing the room in a gentle orange glow.

"Mordred… My right hand. You've done well."

The Bisharp knelt and looked to the ground. "Thank you, sir."

"But not well enough."

His eye twitched slightly, but he said nothing. Victor narrowed his eyes. "Does this upset you?"

"Very much, sir."

"It should. It's displeasing to know that an entire team escaped your grasp." He ruffled his feathers and turned to face the Bisharp. "While I do commend you taking down that Cacturne yourself, the fact remains that Vulcan escaped, and you did not take down Connor or the Froslass. They are the biggest threats on that team. I told you that from the beginning."

"With all due respect, even I realize how powerful Connor is. It would be suicide for me to battle him."

"Then you take down the Froslass. She should be easy work for you."

"I understand, sir. But-"

"Master Victor." He turned as the Crobat flew into the room. Her eyes scanned between them and she slowed down. "...Am I interrupting anything?"

"Not at all, Koumori. Do you have the whereabouts of Team Firestorm?"

"Yes, sir. They are on the western side of the great mountain range, about fourteen miles south of Mt. Horn."

"Good, good…" He chuckled. Then Koumori nodded some more, and Victor's eyes widened slightly. "Are they here?"

She nodded silently, and he waved her away. "Bring them in and leave my presence."

Koumori nodded, and Nagini slithered in, accompanied by an Ariados and Noivern. "...You're dismissed." The Seviper bowed his head in submission and exited.

The two new pokémon waited patiently, and a smirk tugged at the edge of his beak. "Widow and Flatline… I've heard much about you two."

The Noivern nodded, his low, gravelly voice unnerving him. "Likewise. It's incredible how you've managed to keep a group this large under the radar."

Victor smiled and tipped his head feathers in a friendly gesture. "I do what I must to make a living."

The Ariados crawled up the wall and hung from the ceiling. "Let's get to the point. We aren't here to talk. We're here because you have a problem. A problem that you think we can solve."

"If you live up to your reputation, then I know that you can handle this without an issue."

Flatline, the Noivern, bobbed his head approvingly. "We're the best at what we do. And what we do isn't really… for the faint of heart."

He narrowed his eyes. "I know what you two are about. You're criminals, just like us."

"Oh, no, honey." The Ariados landed on the ground silently and crawled up to him, her voice numbing his mind. "We're not criminals. We're just hunters, offering our services to the highest bidder."

Flatline sat on the ground and looked at a small note. "Twenty thousand poké a head. That's a lot, even for a request as big as this. And we don't normally consider teams of more than two. This is gonna be a tough job."

He growled silently, but nodded and put on a neutral expression. "It is. My pricing merely shows how sorely I need them eliminated."

The Noivern narrowed his eyes at Victor. "You say you've got almost two hundred thousand poké just lying around? I'd need to see it before I take any offers."

"I know how ruthless you two can be. It'd be suicide to con either of you."

Widow smiled cruelly. "At least you're not stupid. But like Flatline said, we won't accept your offer unless you show us the payment first. And even then, we need to read up on this 'team'. No offense, but we don't take sources from only one pokémon."

Mordred stepped forward and extended his arm blades. "You think my leader is lying? I'll show you-"

Faster than Victor could register, Mordred was pinned to the wall by a net of steel-hard webbing, and Widow was holding a razor-sharp quill to his neck. She smirked cruelly as she forced his head against the wall by pressing the dagger to his throat. "Show us what? How _strong_ you are? You think you're all big and bad because you killed a Cacturne? We're professionals, honey. We've taken down foes much… much stronger than you. It's best if you pay attention." She sliced the webbing straight down the middle and swiftly crawled back to the Noivern's side as Mordred fell to the ground. "Your choice, Victor. Show us, or we're moving on."

Victor glared at them, but knew that they weren't bluffing. "...Follow me."

Mordred stood up, and Victor extended his wing. "Just us. You stay here."

He extended his wings and flew out of the chamber he was currently in, into a slightly larger room, with paintings on all of the walls of the sons of Arceus and life-sized stone models of other pokémon. The Ariados tilted her head. "Who are they?"

"They're pokémon we've eliminated." He glanced at the Dragonair, turned to stone with a fierce look in her eyes. "We haven't found the bodies of the Smeargle, Tropius or Cacturne for the petrification process, but they are dead, I assure you. Have you read the briefing letter?"

The Noivern humphed. "Widow handles all that. I don't do much reading."

"Ah. Of course." Victor glided in front of them and came to a statue of a Delphox holding a small wand out like it was casting a spell. Flatline tilted his head slightly. "What's this?"

"The witch Valerie. Team Virus took her down a few years ago. She was a master escape artist and could create very realistic illusions." He extended his wing to the branch that the statue held out like a wand. "Almost as well as a Zoroark. ...Almost." He pushed the stick down, and a rumbling noise came from the statue. Behind it, the wall sunk into the ground, revealing a staircase leading down into darkness. He turned to the Ariados and Noivern. "Well? You want to see where I hoard my plethora of wealth?"

The two bounty hunters glanced at each other, and after a silent agreement, turned back to him and followed him into the hidden chamber.

As they went down the stairs, Victor called back. "So how soon will you be able to travel to Mt. Horn, provided you accept my offer?"

"Shouldn't take more than a few minutes, as fast as I fly." Flatline bragged. "I can hit mach 4 when I'm really moving."

Victor nodded. "Once again, you surpass my expectations."

"Don't think this is a sure deal, Victor. Teams larger than two pokémon are difficult to take down swiftly. Four is pushing it. But eight? The only reason we thought about your offer at all was because of the ridiculous amount of poké you're paying. But I don't know if we'll be able to take this job. It's only fair that I warn you."

"...Are you saying that you're incapable?"

Widow's expression grew dangerously hostile. "...I don't lie to my potential employers. Flatline and I are assassins. We target individuals, or pairs of pokémon. Teams of more than four? That's not usually something we even consider."

"Why not?"

"There is safety in numbers. We rely on stealth and surprise attacks to kill our targets. Not much of a surprise if any of them see us before we reach them. And if they have more than two pokémon, the difficulty of performing these operations without any slip-ups multiplies exponentially."

Victor growled inaudibly. This could be a problem. A big problem.

 **-Roy-**

"Hey." He floated up to Dawn after sulking in the shadow dimension for a while. Back when he asked her to come with him, he had no idea that she would cooperate so easily.

A small smile crept across her face as she turned her head to face him. "It's about time."

"So you expected me?" He arched an eyebrow. She nodded. "I knew you were waiting until everybody left me alone."

He laughed to himself. "Am I really that predictable?"

"Not to most." She remarked. "Just me."

He tilted his head back slightly. "And what exactly do you know about me?"

"Not a lot. You're difficult to read, that's for sure. But from what I've seen, you put on a huge front of wisecracks and smiles. But you still think that nobody on your team likes you, in spite of everything you've went through together."

"Hmph." He floated slightly closer. "I _know_ that nobody on this team _likes_ me. They tolerate me, maybe, but-"

"You're wrong." She interrupted. "I'm on this team, and I like you."

He shrugged and teared up. "Give it a little while. You'll end up like the others." The bitterness in his voice surprised himself. He knew that she was right. He did think that he was unwanted. But how did the conversation take such a negative turn?

He felt her gaze pierce right through her eyelids and straight into him. "You think that I'll just… leave? Why would I have any reason to lie to you?"

"Everyone on this team that I attempted to befriend died less than two days ago. Forgive me for not wanting to get attached to anyone right now."

She closed her eyes tighter and shook her head. "I'm sorry, Roy… I… I shouldn't have said anything."

He did his best to smile and change the subject. For some reason it made him upset when she was down. "Don't worry about it. Enough about me. How are you doing?"

She shrugged and sat down. "I've been better, not gonna lie."

He sunk to the ground next to her. "Well, what's wrong?"

She crossed her arms. "Why would you care? You just said you don't want to get attached to anyone."

"I will do whatever I please, thank you! If I want to know why you're upset, I will ask." He laughed quietly.

She took a deep breath. "Hmph. Well, I-"

"Hey guys, we need to get to sleep." Connor interjected and tried to place a hand on Roy's shoulder, but it passed through like an illusion. Roy took a shallow breath. "Um… May I stay up a little bit longer? After all, sleep isn't necessary for my species."

Connor nodded after some hesitation. "Fine. Dawn, you're sleeping on the bunk next to me. Or Jade. Your ch-"

"Next to you." She said quickly.

A half-effort smile tugged at Connor's mouth, but the pain in his eyes told Roy everything he needed to know. "...She's just mad at everyone right now, and this is how she deals with it, I guess. It's nothing personal against you. I promise."

Dawn got up and turned her head towards Roy. "It's alright. I understand. Good night, Roy." Then, she did something that caught him entirely off guard. She pulled him into a hug. His entire being filled with a strange warmth and his eyes widened as she said, "Talk to you tomorrow." She backed away and floated alongside Connor.

His eyes followed her all the way down until she laid down. He floated over to Dusknoir, and the big ghost glanced at him from his resting position.

"Uhh…" Roy shook his head to clear his mind. His thought process was fuzzy, like someone used teeter dance and followed up with a confuse ray. That was so unexpected, especially given that he had only met her that day.

"Um… You want to go exploring or something? Being cooped up here isn't doing me much good."

Dusknoir planted his hands on the ground and pushed himself upright. "...Might as well."

* * *

 **Okay, so I got a feel for my uploading schedule. Mondays and Thursdays, sometimes Fridays, if I'm busy. I'll update the Firestorm Battle Royale roster to accommodate for the new characters, Widow and Flatline**

 **So about the chapter: How did you guys enjoy it? I hope you liked it a lot! I introduced the dreaded assassins from the end of Light in the Storm, finally! If you guys have any questions, comments, concerns, or theories about what's going to happen, feel free to leave a Review or PM me! The support is much appreciated! Much Love!**

 **Also, next Monday is Spinda Vs. Drowzee on Firestorm Battle Royale.**

 **-PL**


	9. A Spectral Crisis

**-Chapter IX: A Spectral Crisis-**

 **-Roy-**

"So, this Ralts…" Dusknoir began.

Roy looked up at him. "What about her?"

Dusknoir phased through a tree as the moonlight shone throughout the forest, bathing the foliage in a gentle white glow. "Something is strange about her."

Roy nodded. "I know. She won't open her eyes. Her psychic tracking is so honed that it puts mine to shame. And I'm the best tracker on this team. Then again, nobody else here can track to save their lives… I guess that makes me the best by default."

"Well, she is a psychic type." Dusknoir speculated. "And she truly might prefer seeing through psychic, similarly to a Lucario using aura. That would give her unprecedented night-vision and provide a way to predict opponents' attack patterns based on their emotions or mental state."

"But still, to never open her eyes… I don't know. Maybe she _can_ just see better with psychic." Roy pondered the thought.

Dusknoir shrugged. "I am not sure, Roy. But for now, we should be wary of her potential. She is not an alpha, but she is easily as powerful as the alpha Gardevoir from team Charm."

"What's an alpha?" Roy asked. "Sorry, I'm new to all these fancy terms. Although I've heard it once or twice before."

"Simply put, an alpha pokémon is the most powerful of their evolutionary line, or the last one of their branch, if it splits, such as Beautifly and Dustox, and are usually much larger than any other. And on top of that, about forty-five species are capable of what humans call 'mega evolution', like what Tyranitar underwent to create our new base of operations."

Roy's eyes widened. "So he is an alpha… And Basileus too? He's a fairly tall Sceptile, and looks the part with the eyepatch and all."

"Yes. But what I wish to know more than is why she is staying with your team. Based on my deductions, she appears to be staying solely to prove Jade wrong."

"But why? Whose approval is she trying to gain in doing that?"

"...I believe it's yours."

"Mine?"

"Yes. You found her first, and you've been the nicest to her. Maybe she took a liking to that."

"That's weird."

"Not really. I believe it is normal for most pokémon to want to prove themselves to someone who they like. But this is all merely speculation. It is also a possibility that she wants to prove herself to Jade. Some pokémon also just want everyone to think highly of them, especially those that don't like them to begin with. None of us know what her past is like, so we can only assume."

"Yeah… Assuming that she wants to impress me or Jade is nonsense. But I trust your judgement, so let's just see where this goes." Roy sighed and continued floating forward.

Dusknoir nodded silently, then stopped moving. His eye dimmed and narrowed. He clenched his fists and got into a fighting stance. "Something is wrong."

Roy felt it, too. Something was closing in fast. Something powerful. Branches snapped to their right, and Roy rapidly turned to see a large dark shape dive through the trees. Dusknoir growled almost inaudibly, and Roy gasped as the shadows in front of him condensed in the blink of an eye. A large red shape smacked him in the chest and slung him to the ground with a grappling rope of some sort. Dusknoir was tackled by the large shape from a moment ago, and Roy used flash, his skin glowing as bright as day. Both of their attackers shielded their eyes, and Dusknoir used ice punch on the pokémon that had tackled him.

Roy used mystical fire on the now revealed Ariados, but it summoned a blue protect barrier that dissipated the flames. Roy cursed and used phantom force, coating himself in darkness and slamming into the Ariados from behind, phasing straight through its protect barrier. Dusknoir used shadow punch to pummel the now revealed Noivern and throw it into the Ariados. The Noivern righted itself and used dragon pulse, but Dusknoir's hands glowed with blue energy and he deflected the attack with a swing of his fist. Roy used mystical fire again, swirling the flames around the Ariados and Noivern.

The Ariados leapt into the trees, but its bright red coloring didn't exactly help its camouflage. Roy kept an eye on it the entire time, the flames trailing closely behind it. The Noivern began flying away, but Dusknoir's entire body glowed as he thrust his hands forward and used gravity, and both of their opponents crashed to the ground, the Ariados falling from the trees in an instant.

The Noivern tried to push itself up, but it was almost as if gravity had been amplified on it. The Ariados shot an electroweb at Dusknoir, but Roy flew in between them and braced himself for impact. The mesh wrapped around him multiple times and shocked him so intensely that his spirit form began smoking. Dusknoir continued concentrating, and the Ariados was forced to the ground, unable to move. Dusknoir's face was tight with strain, and soon Roy's vision became blurry from the shock. He growled internally and tried to phase through the webbing, but it held fast. Its electric charge was lessening. Roy gasped and croaked. "Come on, Roy… Just a little bit longer..."

The Ariados managed to fire a pin missile at Dusknoir, forcing him to dodge. His concentration broke, and the Ariados lunged at him. Roy shouted out, "Dusknoir, watch out!"

Dusknoir turned just in time to recieve a night slash across his stomach. He grabbed at the wound and the Ariados pinned him to the nearest tree with string shot. He phased through the tree, but was blasted with dragon pulse by the Noivern. He fell to the ground and Roy's anger swelled. They had been through too much to lose like this.

Dusknoir tried to swing at the Noivern with ice punch, but it used night slash, and Dusknoir's hand fell to the ground, dissolving into shadows. It chuckled and turned its head to the Ariados as the giant ghost groaned in pain and fell to the ground, clutching at his missing hand. "A Dusknoir? Victor never said-" The Ariados shot a small web that muzzled him. "Shut up!" She hissed. "We'll take them down now."

"Or…" Roy said. "Could you please let us go? After all, we did absolutely nothing to deserve this aggression. I don't even know who this Victor fellow is."

The Ariados glared at him and drew closer. The electricity in the web had dissipated, but it still had him trapped. The Ariados narrowed her eyes at him, her mandibles only inches from his face. "...What's your name, boy?"

He blurted out the first name that came to mind. "Castiel." When he said that, the Ariados raised an eyebrow. "Castiel?" She stared at him intently. "So you're not Roy?"

He shook his head urgently, his mind working overtime. "Who's-? Never mind. I think you've got the wrong Mismagius."

"I never said it was a Mismagius."

"Well, excuse me!" Roy sassed, his panic rising. "Since you asked me, a Mismagius, if I was this so-called Roy, I presumed that a Mismagius is what you're looking for! After all, none of the other species of ghosts look remotely like us!"

The Ariados narrowed her eyes. "...Change of plans. We'll bring them in."

The Noivern tore the webbing off of his snout. "Why?"

She waved her appendage in a dismissive gesture. "I'll explain later." She pulled out a quill the size of a dagger and pointed it at Roy. "No hard feelings, right?"

He glared at her. "Well, given the fact that you cut my friend's hand off… I don't necessarily like you."

She smirked. "Life's tough, isn't it?" She stuck the quill in his side, and he lost consciousness.

 **-Connor-**

"NO!" Connor shot awake at the sudden shout. The crystal glowed dimly and Dawn was sitting straight up. She was breathing heavily and sounded like she was about to cry. She turned her head to him, and he looked around. Amber and Basileus were awake, and Roy and Dusknoir were nowhere to be found. Tears began falling from Dawn's face, and Connor drew closer. "Dawn, what's wrong? Bad dream?"

She shook her head. "They're in trouble! We have to go!"

"What…? Who?"

"Roy and Dusknoir!"

She began floating toward the exit, and Connor grabbed her arm. It was barely big enough for him to grip in two fingers, but she yanked away. "Let me go!"

Everyone began stirring, and Connor shushed her. "Shh… Hey, relax. Nobody's strong enough to take on Roy and Dusknoir together. They're fine."

"I have to find them. Please!"

Connor shook his head. "Dawn… I can't let you endanger yourself like that."

"But they're in trouble, I can feel it!" Then she furrowed her brows and closed her eyes even tighter. "Oh, no…"

He was starting to get nervous. "What?"

"Roy… I lost him."

"What do you mean, 'lost him'?"

"I was keeping an eye on him with psychic, and now he's gone! He just vanished!"

"Ghosts are known to go off the radar sometimes. And why were you-"

"Not important!" She blushed slightly, and Connor's eyes widened. "Um..."

"Shut it!" She ordered. "I know that they're in trouble, and that's all that matters! We have to find them!"

Connor was kind of shocked by her bossiness, but Amber limped over to them, distracting him for a moment. "Connor… She may be right. If Roy suddenly vanished…" She turned to Dawn. "Did you sense Dusknoir with him?"

Dawn nodded. "Mhm. Their energy signatures spiked at one point, then they died down. Almost like they were fighting something..."

"And they lost." Amber gritted her teeth as her eyes widened slightly. "Everyone! Get up!"

Tyranitar and Grovyle shot awake at Amber's command, followed closely by Briar. Atlas sat up with a groan and rubbed his head. "That was the fastest night I've ever… Oh." He pushed himself up with his two bottom hands and helped Alice up with his fourth hand. She stood up, and Mirage lifted her head groggily. "What's the big rush?"

Tyranitar nudged Galvantula, who woke up in a flash. He literally sparked with electricity and went flying across the room. His skin buzzed with a yellow aura when he landed on the opposite wall, and Jade sat up, eyeing the electric tarantula with confusion. "...What's going on?"

"Roy and Dusknoir are missing." Connor said. She rolled her eyes slightly and laid back down. "They're fine. They can just shadow-travel back to us if anything were to attack them."

Celebi walked towards her, her wing still healing. "Jade, there are certain moves and abilities that can negate shadow-travelling. They might actually be in trouble."

Connor walked up to her. "More than that, he's your teammate. If there's even the slightest possibility that he's in danger, you should be doing everything in your power to make sure he's safe, whether you think he's in trouble or not."

Jade nodded slowly. "...O-Of course. I apologize, Connor. I wasn't thinking... clearly."

Vulcan grunted and stood up, stretching his wings the best he could. "Let's go, guys. We're about to kick down their door. Firestorm Style."

Amber shook her head and stopped him by gently pushing against his chest. "I do appreciate all of you wanting to go, but…" She grimaced. "If there are more than a few, any rescue operation would draw too much attention from other pokémon, and possibly alert them to our presence before we drew close enough. We should send a maximum group of four to find them."

Vulcan began. "I'm going."

Grovyle raised his hand. "I'll go."

Connor raised his arm. "Me too. Roy's a part of my team."

Dawn's arm shot up. "I'll go too!"

Vulcan stepped forward a moment later. "Let's do this." Connor smiled and turned to her. "Alright. We'll be back, Amber."

She nodded and turned back to the rest of the group. "You can go back to sleep. It's still dark outside."

Everyone else groaned in protest of being woken up, minus Basileus and Briar, but laid back down. Amber dimmed the crystal again, and Connor turned to Grovyle. "Wow… This is cool."

A smile tugged at the edge of his mouth as he looked forward. "Just like old times."

"Except… Y'know, this time we're _rescuing_ Dusknoir." Saying that left a bitter taste in his mouth. He still didn't trust the ghostly cyclops, but within the last day, Dusknoir hadn't done anything to arouse even the tiniest bit of suspicion. Then again, it was a couple weeks before he dragged them to the future. He had to keep his guard up.

Dawn floated forward. "Let's get a move on! I can sense where they are!"

Connor arched an eyebrow at Vulcan and Grovyle, but they just shrugged. He found himself smiling at Dawn's eagerness as she floated through the entrance to the cave at full speed.

Vulcan took off after her. "You heard her, guys. Let's go!"

Grovyle nodded and sprinted after them, and Connor followed closely behind.

* * *

 **Oh, no! Roy and Dusknoir have been captured by the Assassins! This isn't good! It seems as though the Assassins have accepted Victor's offer... Team Firestorm is in even more trouble now... But why did Widow not kill him right away? That's the real question!**

 **So what did you guys think of the fight? Or about Dusknoir and Roy? Go ahead and let me know, and be sure to leave any questions, comments, concerns and theories about things in the form of a Review or PM! Much Love!**

 **-PL**


	10. A Ghastly Rescue

**-Chapter X: A Ghastly Rescue-**

 **-Roy-**

When he came to, a blinding light was shining on him. He squinted while his eyes dilated, and sat up. Or, at least, he tried to. When he moved, shadowy chains became visible and tightened against the wall he was propped against, holding him down and disappearing when he stopped struggling. He tried to phase into the wall, but it crackled with a black electricity and shocked him on the spectral level, similar to Magnezone's containment facility. He grunted and looked around further. He was tied to a barren stone wall, underground, with a dirt floor and heavy condensation on the ceiling. Water dripped to the ground every so-often, making him kind of paranoid. Dusknoir was nowhere to be found. He almost called out, but something in his gut told him that it was a bad idea.

 _Think, Roy… How did I get here?_ He tried recalling what had happened, but, much to his surprise, he remembered nothing. His jaw dropped slightly. "What…? Why don't I remember?"

He struggled against the chains, and when they revealed themselves, he used mystical fire. The flames turned purple once they hit the chains, and they snapped, freeing him. He fell to the ground, unable to float. "What is this…?"

The ground seemed to be sapping his energy, making him unable to move. He soon collapsed entirely and remained there until a pokémon picked him up and held him against the wall. Once his vision cleared, his anger flared up again.

"Mordred!" He tried to use nightmare, but Mordred opened his mouth, revealing a crunched up chesto berry. "Surprised to see me?"

"Not really." Roy glared at him and tried to use mystical fire, but Mordred pressed his blades up to Roy's neck, making him stop. "One night slash is all it will take. Do not test me."

"Wh-what do you want?" Roy demanded. "How did I get here?"

Mordred seemed confused for a moment before he began laughing. "Ha-ha-ha-ha! I knew they were good, but I didn't know they were _that_ good!"

Roy tilted his head. "Who?"

"Nobody." the Bisharp snapped. He grabbed Roy with one hand. "Follow me, unless you want to die."

Roy smirked. "I'm already dead, thank you. Killing me again would actually be doing me a favor."

Mordred's blade turned pitch black as he slashed across Roy's chest in the blink of an eye. His entire body exploded in pain, the black tendrils of dark poison coursing through his spectral skin. Mordred humphed and began walking. "Now, follow me. The antidote is located where we're going."

Roy fell to the ground, his vision red and his entire spirit corroding away. Mordred rolled his eyes and threw Roy over his shoulder. "Arceus, this is annoying…"

His consciousness was waning, but he was suddenly thrown to the ground and stabbed with something else. As soon as the stabbing pain stopped, his vision cleared and his energy returned. Mordred lifted him up, and Roy stared at him, slack-jawed. "You helped me?"

"I'm not through with you." Mordred used dark pulse to slam him into the wall, then held Roy to the wall by digging his hand into his chest. "Now answer this. A Ralts. She's smaller than most of her species, and she's really powerful. I heard that you were seen with her."

Roy's eyes widened slightly, but he did his best to sound oblivious. "A Ralts? In case you've already forgotten, we've been too busy staying on the run from your group after you killed half of our team to pick up any new recruits."

"Actually, only a third." Mordred corrected. "And I know you're lying. You were talking about her to a Dusknoir near Apple Woods."

Roy shook his head, his panic building. "I don't know what you're talking about. What does a Ralts have to offer you? Shouldn't you still be hunting Vulcan or Connor?"

"Yeah, I forgot to mention that, didn't I?" Mordred mocked. "Of course, I'm not telling you anything. That would be stupid. And you don't want to talk. But sadly, I need you alive."

Roy relaxed slightly. _He won't kill me._

Mordred's eyes narrowed as a cruel smile appeared on his face. "But there's nothing about your Dusknoir friend that makes him special. If you don't talk, I'll kill him. Slowly and painfully. And you'll get the front-row seat!"

Dusknoir was dragged in by a Banette, bound by multiple translucent shackles and chains. He was beaten and bruised, shadowy blood dripping from several dark gashes across his stomach and arms, which were bound behind his back, and his stomach mouth had been stitched shut with a indigo needle and thread. He looked up with pain in his eye, but his message was clear. _Don't tell them anything._

Roy shifted his gaze between the two of them, his face contorting to give off a perplexed vibe. "I'm confused. Who's that supposed to be?"

Mordred narrowed his eyes and extended his arm blade. "...Hmph." He turned to Dusknoir and waved the Banette away. "Thank you. I'll take it from here. Be on standby in case they try anything."

The Banette nodded and phased into the wall. Roy's mind began working overtime. _Stupid, stupid, stupid… I don't even remember anything recent… How long has it been since we've been in here? Is Connor looking for me? Surely it's daytime by now..._

He looked around frantically for anything to use psychic on, but it was a barren, stone room, with a simple table bolted to the ground. The shackles binding him were far too strong to be broken apart with his own strength. He scowled as Mordred began. "So… What do you know, Roy?"

He looked up. "I know a lot of things. You'll have to be more specif-gak!" Mordred thrust his hand forward into Roy's throat. That shouldn't have done any physical damage or caused asphyxiation, but he gasped for air and would have vomited if he had a stomach.

Mordred turned away with a glare and extended his arm blades again, a pitch black shadow layering over it like a fresh coat of paint. He stepped towards Dusknoir, who had been pummeled and beaten almost beyond recognition, and thrust his arm forward. Roy winced and let out an almost inaudible whimper, and Mordred stopped the blade centimeters from Dusknoir's head. He chuckled and turned back to Roy. "So… You do know him."

"No," Roy said. "I don't. It's just that primary Ghost types are typically not fond of one of their own being killed, even if they're complete stranger."

He threw his head back in laughter. "Ha-ha-ha-ha! You don't seriously believe that I'm buying that load of tauros, right?" He kneed Dusknoir in the head and slammed him into the ground. Dusknoir groaned, but said nothing. Roy winced as Mordred knelt down to Dusknoir. "What's the matter, big guy? Can't talk? Huh?" He kneed Dusknoir's temple, and the giant ghost went limp. Tears began falling down Roy's face, but he drew them into his skin, since they were technically shadows. "Alright… I'll talk."

Mordred nodded and stepped forward, looking Roy in the eyes only a few inches away. "What do you know about a little Ralts that is as strong as an alpha?"

"That she's about to kick your butt!" A female voice called out. Mordred turned and used dark pulse blindly, but Dawn teleported right above him and used magical leaf. He crossed his arms and deflected the attack. Dawn teleported again and used psychic to send half the wall flying at him. He grunted in surprise and used rock smash, crushing the boulder into rubble. Dawn's arm glowed blue as she tried to punch him. Roy rolled his eyes as Mordred sidestepped and countered, kicking her to the ground. _Ralts aren't meant for hand-to-hand… combat?_

She stumbled backwards, and when Mordred stepped forward, she swept the ground out from underneath him with psychic and teleported directly onto his chest, catching him off guard. She coated her fist in blue energy and punched straight down. He moved his head to the side and her fist went straight through the stone. As if that weren't enough of a shocker itself, she didn't even wince.

 _That should have broken her entire arm!_

He kicked her off and rolled backwards. She stood and faced in his general direction. "You're the one that sent those pokémon after me."

He nodded, not even out of breath. "You're not surprised… You're powerful, for a psychic type. But against a dark-type like me, you don't stand a chance. We're simply not in the same league."

Dawn's eyelids glowed, and Mordred smirked. "Psychic doesn't work on me, sweetheart. Dark types have that distinct advantage."

Then another familiar pokémon materialized right in front of Roy, behind Mordred. Vulcan grabbed Mordred's shoulder and threw him to the ground. "Remember me?" His mouth spewed a column of white-hot fire that instantly made all his previous flamethrowers seem puny by comparison. Mordred uncrossed his arms after the firestorm died down, a blue protect barrier dissipating. "Vulcan." He sneered as he rolled backwards and stood up. "I didn't expect to see you so soon."

"No?" Vulcan clenched his fists, radiating a fiery orange aura that made Roy want to shy away, even though he was on the opposite side of the room. "Honestly, I'm glad to see you."

Mordred growled and extended his arm blades, but the ground around him cracked as thick green vines snaked upwards through the bedrock and snared his legs. He stumbled backwards and fell to the ground. "What in Arceus-"

"You didn't think I'd come alone, right? I'm not getting kidnapped again." As Vulcan said this, a large cocoon of vines rose from the ground, splitting apart the stone, and Grovyle extended his leaf blades as he stepped out of it like a pod, of sorts.

Mordred sliced the vines and stepped backwards, but found himself against a wall. Dawn glided over to Roy and broke the pulsing chains. He fell to the ground and she tried to catch him, but he was double her size, so he just floated upwards with a smile after a moment. "Thank you, Dawn."

She smiled and turned back to Mordred. "You're my friend. It's what friends do."

"Friend?" He found himself smiling at that word. It had a pleasant ring to it. Nobody had ever called him that before. Not Vincent, or Nocturne, or Atlas… Not even Vulcan or Connor. Maybe it was a small detail, but he kept going back to it these past couple days after his first encounter with her. Besides his conversations with her, he was just… there. Nobody ever paid him much attention, and even when he did something as incredible as revive a dead teammate, nobody except Amber, the one he revived, even gave him a simple 'thank you'.

His thoughts were cut short by Vulcan nearly flattening him. Mordred had used dark pulse to send him flying, and Roy dove to the side as the Charizard was slammed into the wall and rubble rained down on him. Grovyle threw several seed bombs around him, but Mordred held his breath as the paralyzing spores floated around his head. He sprinted out of them and tried to use fury cutter on Grovyle, but the grass-type's eyes flashed turquoise and he vanished. Roy was just as surprised as Mordred. "Huh?!"

A blur of green zipped by him and threw him to the ground. Mordred righted himself with a growl, but was knocked flat on his back again, then pinned down with vines. Grovyle reappeared next to the Bisharp and knelt down. "Listen, Mordred… I've spent more than enough time fighting you already. If it were up to me, I'd put you out of your misery now, and save us all the trouble later." He stood up with a displeased look on his face. "But, unfortunately, that's Connor's call."

Roy glanced around, but the Swampert was nowhere to be seen.

Dawn cursed and clasped her hands together hastily. Connor appeared in a flash of white and charged forward, fists swinging. He stopped after seeing the subdued bad guy on the floor. "...What the heck?" His arm started glowing white as he wound up for a focus punch. "Uh… okay. This works."

Mordred's skin glistened silver, and Connor's focus punch was stopped cold against his unrelenting iron skin. Roy heard something in Connor's body snap and he grunted in pain as his arm bent at an unnatural angle. "Hnngh!" Mordred sliced the vines with the blades lining his body and pulled an escape orb seemingly out of midair while simultaneously using dark pulse to knock them all away and push himself to his feet. "This is only the beginning." He threw it down and vanished.

Vulcan roared and punched the wall with a power-up punch, nearly shattering the stone. "AGAIN?!" He turned on Grovyle. "Why didn't you just kill him when you had the chance?!"

Grovyle glared at him. "There are certain rules that I have to follow, Vulcan."

Vulcan gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. "What rules? Wait, let me guess: one of those rules is that you can't kill any pokémon while you're here?"

"I can't kill any of the Mafia group." Grovyle corrected.

"That specific?! Then what's the point of you being here?! That does us absolutely no good!"

"If that's the case, perhaps I should leave-"

"No!" Connor winced and kept his broken arm off of the ground. "Don't go, Grovyle."

He narrowed his eyes, but nodded. "...For you, Connor. Until Vulcan gets his priorities straight and realizes that I _am_ here to help, I am here solely for you and my group."

Dusknoir groaned, just now regaining consciousness. Grovyle gasped and ran over to him. "Dusknoir!"

The heavyset ghost tried to speak, but the stitches on his stomach mouth seemed to hinder it. Grovyle nodded and extended a leaf blade, except this time it was pitch black, seeming to draw in the shadows around him. He sliced straight through the stitches on Dusknoir's stomach and the large golden mouth twisted into a pained smile. Dusknoir breathed heavily. "Hah… Thank you, Grovyle... That was horrid."

Grovyle stared at the stump at the end of his arm."Dusknoir, your hand-!"

"It's nothing spectral healing can't fix. I will be fine."

Their conversation was cut short when the entire chamber began rumbling. Connor cursed and used Ancient Power, his head fins glowing purple and lining the stones in the same aura. "He rigged the whole place! We're gonna be buried alive!"

Roy used psychic alongside Dawn to support the ceiling in their chamber, but he heard the rest of the underground base caving in around them. Even if this section managed to remain standing, everyone besides he and Dusknoir would run out of air in a matter of minutes, and he didn't know how far underground they were. They could be a few feet, or a few miles. And the walls were enchanted to prevent shadow-traveling. For the first time in his life, he was completely trapped and helpless.

 _No… The second time. But what… where did that come from? That memory?_

Connor turned to Roy. "Roy! You're gonna have to shadow-travel us out!"

Roy shook his head free of any thoughts unrelated to keeping them all alive. "I can't! This whole base is sealed off with spectral energy!"

The ceiling above them continued to crack and fall apart. Vulcan did his best to hold a section of the ceiling up, but since he couldn't exactly fly due to his wings being torn, he used flamethrower to try and melt the stone together. Grovyle tried to grow vines to support the roof, but after the cave began collapsing, all the ambient lighting that had illuminated the place had gone dark. It became pitch black in a matter of seconds, making it impossible to grow any plant life, even for Grovyle.

Dawn's voice spoke up. "I think I can get you all out!"

"Do it!" Connor demanded.

Roy braced himself as a set of eyes began glowing in the darkness, and he was suddenly above ground. No side effects or smoking skin. _I guess it only applies to large distance teleportations..._

Vulcan appeared in a flash of light, followed by Connor, then Dusknoir, then Grovyle. The ground was shaking beneath them, almost like an earthquake, but soon afterwards it stopped, but not without heaving the ground out from underneath them and making a ravine where the base was. "Come on… Where is she?" Roy looked around frantically. "She'll be here in a moment, I'm sure of it…"

Dusknoir pushed himself upright, and Connor called out after standing up. "Everyone alright?" He eyed each of them, mumbling numbers to himself. "Five…" He looked around frantically. "Where's Dawn?"

Roy stayed silent. He waited a while longer for any sign of the Ralts. Then a brief flash of light came from above him, and she fell to the ground, hard. She shakily stood up, but toppled over again, rubbing her temples. "Man… This rescuing stuff is hard..."

Roy nodded and suppressed a grin, then a surge of anger came to him. "Why did you have to go and scare us like that?"  
Dawn smiled slightly. "We didn't die, right?"

Roy glared at her, but she didn't seem fazed in the slightest. "Relax, Roy-boy! We're all okay!" Then she frowned. "Well… Except Connor… But I think I can fix that."

She floated over to him and asked if she could attempt to heal him. He nodded. "Give it a shot. If not, Amber can probably- Ow!" She gently grabbed his arm, which looked kind of funny since it was bigger than her entire body. "Hold still. Amber isn't the only one that can heal people." A golden light pulsed from her head crest, through her arms and into Connor. The glow intensified when it reached where his arm was bent, and it slowly returned to a normal angle. The skin seemed to heal itself where the bone had jutted out like an oversized lump in his arm. The pain in his expression lessened as he sighed with relief. "Wow… You know heal pulse…"

She nodded and set his arm down. "Try putting pressure on it."

He gingerly put his hand to the ground and immediately picked it up again. "Nope."

"...Broken bones can't be entirely healed without time," she replied. "You hit Mordred so hard that your entire forearm snapped like a twig in two different spots. How'd you even stay conscious?"

"I've been through worse. When I was a mudkip, I had a hole straight through my chest for almost two days before Vulcan got me some help from the guild." He smiled wistfully. "I wonder how they're doing… I wonder how many of the others have graduated and evolved."

"You had a hole straight through your chest?"

"From Darkrai." Grovyle blurted out.

Dawn's eyelids glowed dimly before she collapsed to the ground without warning. Connor tried to catch her with his non-broken hand, but his other arm gave out and he ate the dirt. Tears streaked down her face as she sat up and turned to Grovyle. "Arceus… What _was_ that place…? So dark and cold..." she shuddered.

Grovyle instantly tensed up. "How did you-"

She shook her head quickly and slung the tears off with psychic. "I don't do it on purpose, I swear! It just happens sometimes!"

He scowled at her and narrowed his eyes. "...What did you see?"

Her mouth opened slightly and choked back a sob. "Darkness… And pain… Death… Betrayal. Dusknoir, he… he killed..."

Grovyle looked visibly stunned, but neutralized his expression. "He killed me, yes." Roy's jaw dropped as Grovyle quickly added on, "But he's changed, and we're all here to help. That's all that matters right now."

 _He doesn't look dead… and his spirit is his own… how did he come back from the distortion world?_ He gasped internally. _If he could come back, it might be possible to bring the others back to life. Perhaps-_

His thoughts were cut short by Grovyle, who was obviously trying to change the subject. "Let's get back. It's almost sunset."

Roy hadn't noticed, but the sun was almost touching the horizon. "How many days were Dusknoir and I in there?"

"Just one day," Vulcan said. "But we got here just after sunrise."

Roy tried to put together the picture. "So wherever we were… Time was sped up… It was a mystery dungeon?" His eyes widened. "Dusknoir! Do you remember how we got there?"

Dusknoir shook his head. "I remember departing with you last night, then… it's a blur. I recall flashes of light and fire. Then nothing. I woke up in a chamber, proceeded to be interrogated by a Banette, then dragged into the same cell as Roy and beaten unconscious. That's it."

Grovyle looked up at him. "You remember nothing else?"

He shook his head in response. "Nothing." He slammed his fist into the nearest tree, nearly breaking it in two. "Why do neither of us remember anything?!"

"Hey, relax, big guy." Roy tried to calm the ghost-type down. "Like Dawn said, we're all alive. That's all that matters right now. We can figure out how we got there later."

Vulcan and Connor both went to say something, but Grovyle put his hand out. "Don't force recollection. If they don't remember, they don't remember."

Dusknoir planted his left hand on the ground, drawing in the shadows cast by the evening sun. As they seeped into his skin, his other arm elongated, and the nub at the end sprouted into five fingers. He moved the newly formed hand experimentally and grunted in approval.

Connor eyed him warily, but Roy's attention was on Dawn now, who was still visibly trembling. What has Grovyle been through that was so bad it reduced her to tears?

Grovyle sighed, catching everyone's attention. "Dawn… What you saw… that was only the surface..." He got up and began walking. "I'd suggest not doing that again."

Dawn took a shaky breath and stood up. "Don't count on it."

Connor raised the section of earth beneath him and floated after Grovyle, making sure not to put pressure on his broken arm. He called back, "Let's go guys. We've got some work to do."

"Understatement of the year," Roy grumbled as he drifted along after them.

* * *

 **Alright! They rescued Roy and Dusknoir with minimal injuries! Even though Connor broke his arm... Meh. And how about that shadow healing, huh? I think it's pretty neat! What do you guys think? But now there's a problem... Apparently the Insurgo can't kill any mafia members. That's kind of an important thing to say when you first arrive, isn't it?**

 **So... That's chapter ten! I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! What did you think about Grovyle's awesome entry and kick-butt skills? Go ahead and leave any questions, comments, concerns and theories about future events/characters in the form of a review or PM! It's always appreciated, and it helps me keep writing!**

 **If you guys want to read the files that Victor gave the Assassins, go ahead and click on my profile and go to Victor's Files! It has everything there is to know about the characters, minus personalities.**

 **Also, the next Battle for Firestorm Battle Royale is Rose Vs. Nagini in a Swamp Biome. It is scheduled for Monday, so try not to miss it!**

 **Okay, last thing. I am in need of _at least_ two more OC characters to interact with Team Firestorm that aren't members of the Mafia. So far, we have a Pikachu, a Farfetch'd, Weavile, a Delphox, a Venomoth and a Beedrill, so those are exempt, as well as most pokemon that are on any other teams in my stories. PM me if you have any questions about character choices. Also, if you're interested in seeing your character in the sequels to Blazing Hearts, go ahead and read the guidelines on my profile and submit your character ideas to me via PM! Much Love!**

 **-PL**


	11. The Assassins' Compromise

**-Chapter XI: The Assassins' Compromise-**

 **-Amber-**

After Connor's group had left in search of Roy and Dusknoir, the rest of them had decided to lie back down and get more rest. Amber had put an incantation over the crystal cluster illuminating the chamber so that it simulated the time of day outside without her constant oversight. Whenever it started getting brighter, signaling sunrise, she began waking everybody up. Basileus was already wide awake. Amber had never seen him sleep, now that she thought about it. But she woke the rest of the pokémon, although Jade was nowhere to be found. After they ate a hearty meal of roasted berries with gummis for dessert, she spoke up.

"As of now, it is a bit earlier than midday." She glanced at the crystal in confirmation. "The reason I woke you all is because we will not sit around idly and wait for Connor's group to return. Insurgo, you are to help the members of Team Firestorm heal and be ready to train by tomorrow."

Galvantula let out a short laugh. "Ha! Hey, uh, Amber. The only healers here are you and Briar. Ain't nothing Basileus, T, Celebi and I can do."

"T?" Mirage questioned.

"Tyranitar." Galvantula clarified. "It's an inside thing." He turned back to Amber. "So I'd suggest you do your little incantation healing spell thingy-"

"Hold on." Alice interrupted. She seemed to be in the best shape out of all of Team Firestorm, but that's not saying much. She had a slight limp, but at least she had no visible cuts or bruises. "I... I know heal pulse."

Galvantula stared at her for a moment before nodding. "That's convenient. How'd you forget that you knew a move like that?"

She shrugged. "I've never had to use it… except one time. And all this talking just got me thinking about it."

Celebi giggled. "That's actually got me thinking as well! I know a healing move. Although it _is_ a bit risky to use."

"Healing wish?!" Briar said with disbelief. "Celebi, I will not allow you to risk your life. We're in no immediate danger, so using that move right now is pointless."

"Yeah," Alice agreed. "I know a healing move with no side effects on me. There's no need to sacrifice anything."

Celebi smiled. "Relax, you two! I wasn't going to anyways! I was just saying I knew a move."

Jade floated out of the floor without preamble, making Celebi shout in surprise and stumble backwards. The Froslass quickly apologized and said that she was meditating directly outside and heard the group awakening, so she decided to check in.

"Hey, Jade. That's a pretty gutsy thing to do, given the giant criminal organization that's after you guys." Galvantula said. "I'd join you, y'know, cuz I gotta harness my inner peace and all that, but Amber says I'm not allowed." He shifted his gaze towards her. "She can be a bit of a buzzkill. Even more than Basileus!"

The Sceptile tilted his head as if he were cleaning his ears. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me." Galvantula replied with a grin.

"...Hmph."

Galvantula's smile faded after a moment. "Like I said… Buzzkill."

Briar spit into a wooden bowl and began mixing it into some herbs and other things with a thick and short branch. Mirage fluttered forward and examined the mixture. "What's that?"

"Healing paste." Briar replied without looking up. Atlas looked like he was about to be sick. " _That's_ what she put on my face?"

"Relax, muscles." Galvantula prodded him slightly. "Her spit's sanitary. And most people don't know this, but your Meganium friend actually makes her paste more potent if she breathes on it."

Caroline's eyes widened in surprise. "What?"

"You can heal plants and grass-types, and amplify the effects of any plant-based material just by breathing on it. An ability that literally only your species possesses."

Her eyes widened. "How do you know that?"

"I've been lots of places, sweetums. You learn things after a while."

She scowled at him. "Don't call me sweetums. What do I have to do?"

"Well… Let's see… You take Briar's paste mix." He took the bowl out of Briar's hands and held it in front of her. "And you breathe on it."

"That's it?" She looked at Amber for confirmation, her eyes darting back and forth, but she just shrugged. "I don't know enough to confirm that... Briar?"

Briar nodded. "While I don't approve of this yellow arthropod stealing my bowl, I do agree with him. Your species is able to amplify the strength of my abilities, including healing. There is certainly no harm in trying."

She shrugged and opened her mouth. A thin pink smoke trailed out and seemed to be drawn into the bowl. It glowed dimly and returned to normal after a moment. Briar took the bowl from Galvantula and dabbed her finger in it. It absorbed into her skin and her eyes seemed to give off a new spark of energy. She smiled and took a deep breath. "Wow… Incredible."

Caroline smiled hopefully. "Is it really that good?"

"Your ability certainly helped." Briar agreed. "It is much more concentrated than I could have ever imagined." She turned to Celebi and shifted her gaze between the two of them. "Celebi… I have an idea."

"Oh, no. We're all doomed." Galvantula jested. She just rolled her eyes and continued. "If you could somehow use psychic or a similar move to collect Caroline's flower breath and concentrate it…"

"You could use it in case of emergencies or just to make your healing paste work better." Celebi finished. She turned to Caroline. "You catch all that?"  
Caroline nodded. "It's not dangerous, right?"

"Not at all," Celebi confirmed. "All you have to do is use your special breath thing and I'll do the rest."

"While they're doing that," Alice said, "I'll get to work on healing Atlas."

She placed a hand on him and her fur gained a golden luminance. A yellow pulse emanated from her hand and coursed throughout the Machamp's entire body. He relaxed and leaned back as the healing energy did its work.

Her attention was redirected to Celebi, who swirled the thin pink mist around her in a miniature whirlwind. As some of the mist trailed into her body, concentrating mainly on her wings, her skin turned a brighter shade of pink and her wing straightened out. She gasped and grinned as the mist condensed into a single orb no bigger than a marble. Briar tapped the ground and a small flower with a blue bulb on top broke through the stone. It opened its bulb and drew the pink orb of mist into it. The blue flower closed, and Briar plucked it from the ground. She placed it in her wonder bag and nodded. "Thank you, Caroline. This should be enough for a while."

Caroline smiled and laid down. "No problem. I had no idea that I could do that."

"Sooo…" Amber turned to Galvantula, who was now looking at Briar. "You gonna use that super serum you concocted?"

"Of course. Why would I let it go to waste?"

"I dunno. Just wondering, since you haven't used it yet."

Briar smiled gently and scooped some of the paste out with her fingers. "Amber. May you come here, please?"

She nodded slowly. "Of course."

Briar gestured for her to turn around, and once she did, she took the leaf bandages off. The cool air rushed down her now exposed backside, and Briar lightly gasped. "Arceus, Amber… I didn't realize…" She paused. "...Hold still."

Amber nodded, and as soon as she felt Briar's hand along her back, she gritted her teeth as the healing paste took effect. She focused and remained standing, even though it felt like she was being prodded with a white-hot stick repeatedly. She wanted to scream, but she forced it down. She had to power through this. After the pain, it would be better.

After what felt like an eternity, the pain subsided. Her vision cleared, and when she turned her head, Briar was staring at her, awestruck. "Incredible..."

"What?" She tried to look at her back, but her crimson wings blocked her vision.

"The way your skin stretched over itself and healed… Amber, it's like new. No scars, no pale marks, nothing."

She couldn't help but grin and look at Galvantula and Caroline with tears in her eyes. "Thank you, thank you, thank you…" She pulled them both into a hug, but Galvantula's electric aura began burning after a moment. He leapt back and smiled. "It's not a problem. But how come you didn't know about that super effect boost thing?"

She shot him a warning look. " _Because_ , Galvantula, where I'm from, I was never very exposed to knowledge about grass-types."

"Did you live near a volcano or something?" Mirage questioned. Amber smiled slightly. "Yes. Yes… I lived near a great volcano in an isolated jungle, home to mainly fire and bug types."

"No grass types in a jungle?" Alice asked. "That's… weird. And fire-types all over the place?"

She grimaced slightly. _Stupid! Why did I say a jungle?_

"...Yes. But it's not like that anymore. The last tribe of fire-types in that jungle died out long ago."

"And where would this so-called jungle be?" Alice seemed suspicious now. Amber just now recalled that the Lopunny could sense emotions. She felt her nervousness rising in spite of herself, and Alice arched an eyebrow.

Briar decided to intervene. "The jungle is in Tirtouga Isles on the second southernmost islet. Mt. Torrens is the supervolcano that makes up the island."

Alice narrowed her eyes and glanced at Basileus momentarily, but eventually nodded. When she looked away, Amber glared daggers at Galvantula, who put his hands up in surrender.

Tyranitar stifled a laugh and Galvantula jabbed him with a weak thunder punch jokingly. "Shut it."

He let out a deep, earth-rumbling laugh, which made Amber smile. He continued laughing and leaned back against the short section of raised stone. "Ha-ha-ha!"

Nobody else seemed to understand what he was laughing at, but Amber let him draw the attention of the Lopunny away from her. She had come awfully close to figuring out who she was. And she couldn't let them know until far later in time. They weren't ready.

 **-Victor-**

He glared at Mordred angrily. "How did you let him get away?! You had Larua, were in a mystery dungeon, underground, sealed off with spectral energy, and _still_ you managed to fail at interrogating one ghost!"

The Bisharp knelt on the ground and looked to the floor. "Forgive me. But I was caught by surprise. They were able to teleport directly to me. They seem to have two new members on their team, one with unimaginable speed, and one that could locate Roy remotely."

His anger subsided for a moment, only because curiosity replaced it. "...Two new members already? And they can teleport without the Smeargle?"

"Yes, sir. Their allies that I am aware of consist of a Ralts and a Grovyle."

"A Grovyle?" Victor's interest piqued. "Did he have any strange markings on his arms?"

"...I didn't get a good look at him, sir. He was so fast… I couldn't even see him until he stood still."

Victor rolled his eyes with annoyance. "This team is proving to be very troublesome. The amount of allies they've acquired in such a short time is making me worry."

"You're telling me." A raspy voice came from the doorway, and Widow crawled into the room. "The Mismagius had a friend. A Dusknoir. He nearly got Flatline with an ice punch."

The Noivern followed closely behind her. "Yeah. We read up on this team. Now Mordred's telling you they have two new allies, plus this Dusknoir? You'd better get your facts straight, Victor. We don't normally take down entire teams due to the difficulty, but we made an exception for you. And in return, we receive dated information? I don't take kindly to that."

"Nor do I," Widow agreed.

Victor cleared his throat and nodded. "Very well. Rest assured, your payment will compensate for the problem at hand."

"How much more are we talking?"

"I'll pay thirty thousand a head for their newfound allies." He paused briefly. "...However, won't Roy warn the others of you? That would be… troublesome."

"Oh, that's not a problem," the Ariados assured. "The quill I stuck them with was coated in a cerebral neurotoxin. It dulls memories of any pokémon, no matter what type. Living or dead, they won't be able to recall anything about us."

Mordred nodded and stood up. "Impressive. I was curious as to why the stupid ghost didn't remember how he got there."

"Which brings me to wonder…" Victor said. "Why did you not kill him on the spot? Surely that would have been much easier and saved all of us time and energy."

"We weren't sure if it was him," Widow replied annoyedly. "That's one of our terms. We don't kill anyone unless we _know_ it's our target. That's how we make our living. If we went around killing anyone we pleased, we'd be killers. If you want to get technical, being paid makes it legal, which keeps us out of trouble with Magnezone."

Victor shook his head slightly. "...I didn't know bounty hunting was legal in any form or fashion. When did this change?"

"It hasn't. The reason we can do what we do is because we go under the guise of an exploration team that hunts down outlaws, which, by definition, is anyone with a bounty over their head. The bounty is set by you. We're Team Necro, to anyone that is not our employer."

That gave Victor an idea, but he pushed it aside to continue the conversation. "So judging by your uncertainty, did you not read the files I provided about Roy?"

"We did," her annoyed tone was making him nervous. "But the Mismagius was a little too good at playing dumb. And since he had a Dusknoir with him, which you _did not_ mention in your 'files', I determined that he _might_ not actually be the one we were looking for. So I brought them to Mordred to confirm it. I expected your second in command to be able to do something as simple as interrogate a single ghost-type and finish what we started."

Mordred extended his arm blades and stepped forward. "You want to run that by me again, you insect?"

"I overestimated you, Mordred. You and your 'master'." Widow replied bluntly. "And if you attack me, the outcome will still result in your defeat. And I might not be as lenient this time around."

Mordred scowled and took another step. "I underestimated you the first time. It won't happen this time around."

Widow got lower to the ground and smiled slightly. "Is that a challenge?"

"Mordred, do not-"

"I beg your forgiveness, Master Victor, but this pokémon, assassin or no, is directly insulting the both of us in our territory! I will not forgive those that insult you, or me!"

He took another step forward, and Victor raised his voice in response. "Mordred! Are you disobeying a direct order?"

Mordred stopped in his tracks and clenched his fists. "...No, sir."

Widow humphed and said, "Well, it looks like you have your 'bodyguard' well-trained."

Mordred stood perfectly still, then returned to Victor's side. The Bisharp glared at Widow and said, "Once your usefulness to us has passed, I will kill you myself."

"Duly noted," Widow mocked. "I'll be sure to go easy on you."

Mordred growled, but Flatline snickered and extended his wings, the tips reaching almost from wall to wall. "Trust me, you don't want to get on her bad side. But even so, if you threaten her, I will end you before she gets the chance."

"Alright, enough! Mordred, I will deal with you later. Get out of my sight!"

Mordred gasped slightly. "M-master-!"

"That's an order!"

"...Yes, sir." Mordred glared daggers at the Assassins as he walked past them, and once the doors were closed, Victor sighed. "You have my sincerest apologies. Mordred is not normally one to act so brash. He will be dealt with properly once you two are supplied with sufficient information and resources."

"It's fine. I'm not scared of him. But how have you managed to make him respect you that much? To back down from a direct challenge?"

"...I have my ways. That is all you are required to know."

"Secretive, as always... Fine. Back to business. Did you have any further information for us about these 'new allies'?"

"No. Unfortunately, Koumori is only so good. Even she has limits. However, I have another pokémon available to assist you in taking down the ghost-types permanently, if you choose to accept."

The Ariados narrowed her eyes. "What species?"

"His name is Soulburner. He's a Chandelure."

The Ariados shook her head. "Out of the question."

He was caught off guard by the harshness in her tone. "But-"

"I said no. Right now, you abide by our terms. We work better by ourselves. I may be persuaded change my mind later, but for now, that is my answer."

He bit back any further remarks. "...Very well."

The Ariados smiled charmingly. "We'll be leaving now. Flatline and I will be done within a few weeks." She pulled out a warp orb, then spoke over her shoulder. "Oh, and expect regular check-ins, honey. We aren't going anywhere without our payment."

Victor was about to say something, but the Ariados tossed down a warp orb and vanished.

He growled and used air slash on the wall, putting shallow dents into the stone. "That insect used Taunt, I'm sure of it. Mordred would never act so rashly, nor would he defy me for even a moment. I will speak with him later… Those two are tricky… But I have already out-thought them... They cannot beat Roy and Dusknoir twice. They will not split off from their group again. They'll need help."

Then he left his chambers and flew to Nagini, who was sending out teams of pokémon to scour the continent. "Nagini, I need you and your team to find Soulburner."

"R-right away, sir!"

"Team Blackmist is already on his trail, so I need you to be swift. Locate him first. That's an order!"

"Yes, sir! I will get Arturia, Larua and Fornax immediately!" Nagini took off, and Victor walked back to his chambers.

"Meanwhile…" Victor murmured to himself, "I'll have Torrent and Pandora track down Iden and Cinder. I know where Iden will head next, though… So let's get him first."

* * *

 **Chapter 11! Things are really starting to heat up! The Assassins know about Dusknoir, Dawn and Grovyle, Victor's going to find Soulburner, and a whole bunch of other stuff! Oh my gosh!**

 **That being said, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! As always, feel free to leave your questions, comments, concerns and theories about stuff in the form of a Review or PM! It is always much appreciated!**

 **I do have a quick question for those of you that have been reading my stories for a while. You can answer it, or not. Do you guys prefer the third person writing in this story, or, for the next installment, would you like me to return to the style of Firestorm Origins using first person?**

 **Also, I am still in need of at least two more OC characters to interact with Team Firestorm! So if you want to see your character in my stories, the guidelines are on my profile! And today's Firestorm Battle Royale is Nagini Vs. Rose! It's going to be a good one! Much Love!**

 **-PL**


	12. A Father's Passion

**-Chapter XII: A Father's Passion-**

 **-Amber-**

She was getting anxious now. It was almost sunset and Connor's group hadn't returned. After Briar's healing paste had cured almost everyone's injuries, they had all relaxed and begun resting up for tomorrow. They had work to do. Team Firestorm couldn't beat the Mafia group in the condition that they were in. A third of their team was gone. They had to recruit more pokémon, or find allies. So far, Dawn had shown extreme promise as a powerful member. Amber had sensed her strength in the forest. Roy had gone off in search of it, but she didn't know that it would be a Ralts. Her aura was more powerful than Connor's. And he was the most powerful being she had ever met until that point.

However, she wasn't the Alpha. Gardevoir from Team Charm held that distinction. But she was easily just as powerful, which didn't make much sense. If she was that strong as a Ralts, she couldn't imagine what she would be capable of as a Gardevoir, and why she wasn't the alpha to begin with.

She glanced around as Team Firestorm laid down on their grassy beds, their eyes closed. Grovyle and Celebi were murmuring in the far corner, while Basileus was watching over Briar as she rested. Galvantula was showing Tyranitar how to use thunderpunch and thunderbolt in unison. Combining those moves made it possible to shoot and absorb thunderbolts through his hands, apparently.

She smiled and leaned her head against the wall. She perked up when she felt a familiar psychic pulse outside the cavern. She gestured to Celebi, and the pink fairy nodded after a moment. Her eyes glowed and the entrance to the cave opened. Grovyle ran in, followed closely by Connor and Dawn. Vulcan, Roy and Dusknoir followed a moment later. Dusknoir was almost beaten beyond recognition. With all of the gashes across his skin that were stitched with an indigo thread, he looked like a ghoul that was torn apart and sewn back together.

Roy seemed to be alright. At least, he didn't have any physical damage, which was good. Dawn was perfectly fine, and when Amber's gaze shifted to Connor, she gasped. His arm was almost navy blue. That meant massive amounts of internal bleeding, and probably broken bones. She stood up and caught him as he collapsed to the ground. His arm was swollen and the bones might as well have been reduced to gravel. They were broken in two spots, which baffled her. That was nearly impossible to do, and the pain should have rendered him unable to walk, let alone keep up with Grovyle.

He grimaced and groaned in agony when she grazed her hand along his arm. She turned to Grovyle. "What happened?"

He looked to the ground and shuffled his feet. "Mordred was there."

"And he beat all of you?"

A small smile appeared on his face as he looked back up at her. "Me? Beaten by a Bisharp? Come on, Amber." His shoulders sunk as his expression softened. "...I pinned him down, and would have done it myself, but due to our _restrictions_ , Connor had to finish the job. He used focus punch, but Mordred used iron defense. Connor hit him so hard his arm snapped in two, and the stupid Bisharp used a warp orb to escape. And to top it off, he rigged the whole place to bury us alive. We barely made it out. And only thanks to this Ralts."

"Dawn is the only reason that we are here at all," Dusknoir agreed.

Vulcan smiled and pat her back. "Yeah. Not bad."

"Not bad?" Roy gawked. "She saved all of our lives. You'll have to do better than 'not bad'!" He smiled and nodded at Dawn. "I'll be the first to say thank you, Dawn."

"Yeah, thanks," Connor added.

"I thank you as well," Dusknoir admitted.

"Thank you." Grovyle put in.

"Me too... Thanks." Vulcan finished.

Dawn grinned nervously. She obviously didn't know how to respond to all of this praise. "You're welcome?" She laughed skittishly and tilted her head to the ground.

Connor laughed, then grunted in pain. "Hey, uh, Amber… You mind doing your healing spell thing?"

She smiled and laughed gently. "Of course." She grabbed his arm and chanted. "Parantua luut sisällä kätensä ,ja korjata vahinkoja, joita on ommeltu." An orange glow surrounded her hand and traveled throughout Connor's arm. His arm straightened out and returned to its normal shade of blue. He shut his eyes and groaned for a moment as the bones bound themselves together, the muscle fibers reinforcing the marrow. She took a deep breath and the strain on his face vanished. He placed his limb down and grunted in pain. "Man, all this healing and it still hurts this bad?"

He picked it up off the ground, and she stared at the still tender wound with concern. "Strange… That normally works."

He gritted his teeth, and Alice hopped over to him, apparently awake before they returned. "It's about time you guys got back. We've been worried sick!" She took notice of his arm, her eyes widening slightly. "Oh. I can use heal pulse on that."

Connor nodded. "Okay. Give it a shot. Third time's the charm, right?" The Lopunny grabbed his arm gently and closed her eyes. Her fur began shining with a golden brilliance as Connor's arm began glowing blue. Alice scrunched her eyebrows, and was suddenly thrown backwards by an invisible energy surge. She rubbed her head and stood up. "What was that?"

Grovyle narrowed his eyes and looked at Amber. "Perhaps it's been healed too much in a short period of time."

"Yes, that is a very possible explanation. It's never happened before… But then again, usually one of my healing incantations should heal anything..." Amber pondered. Connor sighed and laid down. "Ugh. So I have to heal the old-fashioned way. Fantastic."

Amber glanced at Basileus and Briar, and she turned back to Connor. "I'll be back in a moment."

She glided over to Briar, and the Sceptile smiled. "You want some of my healing paste."

Amber nodded. "For Connor. And Vulcan. They are both mortally wounded."

Briar nodded and gestured to a small wooden case. "The leftovers are in there. It should be plenty for them."

Amber opened the box and grabbed the small bowl of green slime. "Thank you, Briar."

She hurried back over to Connor and knelt down. "Here. Let's spread this across your skin."

She scooped some of the paste out of the bowl and gently spread it across the massive bruise. Immediately it absorbed into his skin, and its healing properties took effect. The bruise slowly disappeared, and while Connor rested, she stood next to Vulcan. She was a few inches taller than him, which was strange. She could have sworn Vulcan was taller last time she stood face to face wit him. She took another handful of the mixture and beckoned for him to turn around.

The holes in his wings made her sick, but she dabbed bit after bit around the edges of the tears in his wings. As the mixture was absorbed into the thin layer of skin, strands of muscle shot out and pulled themselves together, forming a new layer of rough skin that smoothed out in a matter of moments. She fought back a wave of nausea as she watched. Was this what happened when she was healed?

It definitely wasn't the same kind of healing that she was capable of. This was natural healing that sped up every pokémon's natural healing factor. Hers was a kind of psychic healing that transcended the laws of nature.

Vulcan grimaced until the healing stopped, and when he flapped his wings, they responded just as well as they did before his injuries. He grinned and pulled her into a hug. "Thanks, Amber…"

"You're welcome, Vulcan."

 **-Iden-**

He stood on the edge of the now ruined bluff, overlooking the pitch black ocean beneath him, with a faint silver glow from the moon overhead that illuminated the waves crashing against the cliffside a hundred feet below. "Are you sure this is my son's base?"

The Infernape accompanying him nodded, his flaming hair bringing light to a small scroll of paper. "Yeah. Their base of operations is Sharpedo Bluff, just outside of Treasure Town."

He knelt down and felt the grass growing across the stones. This plant life was years old. "This place has been abandoned for years. How recent is that scroll?"

"...Says here it was updated three days ago. Vulcan's a Charizard now, according to this."

He smiled and teared up. "So he survived all these years… And finally evolved." But he looked back at the grass-covered ruins of the bluff. "However… Plant life can't grow this fast. And if this place was intact three days ago… What happened?"

"Oh, it's simple to figure out." A gentle, silvery voice replied. "My master destroyed this stronghold. The home of the most feared team on Immanis. Without them in the picture, we can roam unchallenged." Iden growled and shook his head clear while setting his fists ablaze. "Show yourself!"

"Gladly." A snow white pokémon walked forward, out of the shadows. Its single showing eye glinted in the moonlight. The female Absol smiled cruelly and crouched low to the ground. "Iden, isn't it? And what's this? Are you Cinder?"

Iden glared at her and said, "No, that's Blaze. My assistant. Who are you?"

"I am Master Mordred's representative for the time being. You see… I've been sent to kill you." She opened her mouth and took a deep breath. Iden used flamethrower and shouted, "Cover your ears!"

Dark crimson waves of a perish song spewed forth from the Absol, and Iden covered his ears the best he could. The waves of energy snuffed out his flamethrower, but he kept his hands on his ears as he used flare blitz. He was cloaked in fire as he barreled forward. Just before he made contact, he was hit by a hydro pump. Cinder ran forward and used mega kick on the revealed Blastoise's head, making it stumble and almost fall over.

Iden growled and rolled upright, using his wings to force himself to his feet. He shouted at the Absol. "What about your partner? Won't he die from the perish song?"

She opened her mouth to reply, when he said, "And I can't hear you, by the way! It was a rhetorical question!"

The Absol arched an eyebrow as Iden used focus blast. He charged it up in his mouth and fired it like a flame burst. The Absol smiled and stepped to the side with ease. It started talking, and Iden said with a small smile, "Still can't hear you."

The Absol scowled at him and used rock tomb. Iden took to the air as four pillars of stone rose around him and closed in with unreal speed, clamping down only inches behind his tail. He used inferno, a massive column of fire swirling from the sky, raining fire down on the Absol and Blastoise. He sighed and landed on the ground, uncovering his ears. "Alright… What were you going to say?"

"She wasn't going to say anything!" Cinder used mach punch on its face, sending it sprawling. The Absol stood up and smiled warmly. "Boys… Please don't do this." She was using attract. A cheap tactic.

Iden reached into his treasure bag and pulled out a small, red ball of yarn. "Do you know what this is?"

The Absol gasped and stopped talking, and Iden chuckled. "That's right..."

She dashed forward and tried to use aerial ace on Cinder, but Iden intercepted and tackled her out of the air. He used seismic toss to throw her into the ground, and was about to use power-up punch, but was headbutted by the Blastoise. It grappled his wings and fell on top of him, nearly crushing him with its massive weight. Cinder ran forward, but the Absol intercepted and nearly sliced his arm with her head blade. Cinder stumbled backwards and tripped on the uneven terrain, allowing the Absol to pounce. Iden used rock tomb, sending four pillars of stone up from the bluff, cutting the Absol off while trapping her in a stone chamber.

Cinder stood up and used flamethrower, melting the stone around her. She screamed in agony, and Iden used air slash to send blades of cold air into the magma, cooling it instantly. The Absol continued wailing, and used perish song. Iden couldn't see the waves until it was too late. His ears went berzerk, ringing and vibrating uncontrollably. He gasped and hunched over, gasping for breath. He took a deep breath and reached into his treasure bag, his vision spinning and fading in and out instantaneously. He pulled out a heal seed and put it in his mouth as fast as he could. As soon as he bit into it, his senses returned. He pulled out a muzzle orb and crushed it in his hand. A band of energy covered the Absol's mouth, only allowing speech, and he walked forward casually. He ripped the hardened stone out from around her face and smirked. "Awh, now that's no fun… You killed your teammate!"

The Absol's gaze shifted to the now collapsed Blastoise. "What? Impossible! We used safeguard to prevent that!"

Cinder laughed and said, "Awh, he's just taking a nap. I laid him out with a focus punch. He'll be fine."

The Absol gasped and tried to bust out of the stone, but Iden used power-up punch on her face. "Did you really think I'd just stand here while you attempt to escape?"

"Gah… Iden… If you're going to kill me…"

"I'm not gonna kill you."

"We're not?" Cinder questioned. "She almost killed you!"

"I am aware… Blaze."

"You're just going to let her go?"

"Pretty much. But not before beating her within an inch of her life."

He raised his fist and readied focus punch. "Two of these should do the trick. When you get out of here, tell 'Master Mordred' that he should watch his back. And tell Victor, while you're at it."

"I'm not a fool… That's Cinder-AGH!" She was sent flying by a focus punch uppercut, shattering the stone prison she was in. Iden flew into the air before she could recover, grabbed her by her horn and used sky drop, slamming her head-first into the bluff. As half of the stone on the cliffside was blown over the edge, dropping to the ocean below, she was beaten almost unconscious, so he fed her an oran berry. "Wake up. We're not done yet." He grabbed her head and made her look him in the eyes. "That is not Cinder. Understand? I don't know who Cinder is. But you tell Victor and Mordred that I'm coming for them, and when I find them… I'm out of mercy to give."

 **-Connor-**

He laid down on the closest grass bed and closed his eyes. That healing paste stung worse than a Tentacruel at first, but it definitely helped his wound. His arm could almost support his full body weight without causing too much pain.

He was relaxing for a long while uninterrupted, and opened one eye when he heard movement closeby. "Oh, hey Dawn. What's up?"

She shrugged and tilted her head down. "Um… Nothing much. Just… wanted to see how you're doing."

"I'm pretty good. Briar's healing paste and all the different healing spells and stuff fixed my arm right up."

She smiled gently. "That's good." She took a deep breath. "Listen, um… Sorry… about, y'know, not being able to take down Mordred. And for your arm getting broken."

"What?" Connor nearly sat up with disbelief. "What are you talking about? I broke my arm because I hit him really hard. You didn't do anything."

"But… I-"

"Dawn, he's a dark type! It's okay if you can't beat him! Besides, it's in the past. Tomorrow's a fresh day. We're all healed up and ready to destroy those guys." He glanced around at the rest of the team. "They've been dying to get back out there. These past couple days, we've been cooped up, can't do anything… It's starting to get to us. If we find some bad guys to fight, it'll help them get their minds off of everything."

"I think that will help, yes. But if that's the case, I guess we're moving locations?"

He shrugged. "Mordred's baddies found Roy and Dusknoir within a day. But I don't know if he knows where we are."

Dawn clenched her fist, and he thought out loud as she stood in front of him, since her entire body only as big as his head. "You're really little..."

"Hey, I might be little, but I'm eight pounds of kick-ass!" She scowled as the red fin thing on her head gave off a slight rainbow glow.

"Whoa… Watch the language."

"Yeah! Just 'cuz it's rated M don't mean you can go swearing like Magnus!" Galvantula whispered as he hung from the ceiling directly above them.

"Sorry," she apologized. "I don't like being called little. I haven't been able to evolve for some reason, and it's kind of been making me mad."

He narrowed his eyes at her after shooing Galvantula away. "How old are you, anyways?"

"About… ten years, I think."

His eyes shot open. "Ten?!"

"Relax, Connie. Psychic types just age a lot slower than other types. I'm about nineteen, if you convert normal years into psychic-types' aging years."

"...What?"

"I'm nineteen."

"Oh. Um… You don't look-"

"How old is your team? They can't be full-grown yet."

"Okay, uh… I'm twenty, in my species' years."

"And the others?"

"Around the same age, give or take a year or two. Except Jade. She's twenty… four, I think? One time she said that evolving speeds up your aging process a lot, so your new form corresponds with your age."

"I've heard that too. But I don't know if it's true."

"It seems kind of… out there. I mean, sure, Vulcan looks, sounds, and even acts older since he evolved, but..." Then his eyes widened slightly. "Actually… "

"What?"

"That might… actually be true. All of us _seem_ a lot older than we did when we first started. Maybe evolution does that. But if we're going by how many years we've been alive, we're all about seventeen to twenty-ish. Except Roy… How do ghosts age?"

"Well, that would depend." A deep voice washed over him. "On how he came to be a ghost-type."

He tensed up. "I wasn't asking you, Dusknoir."

"Ah, but I simply overheard your conversation. After all, when we're all in one room, it's difficult to ignore." He landed on the ground next to them without making a single noise.

Connor rolled his eyes and Dawn put her hand on his arm. "It's alright, Connor. I know that he's betrayed you and Vulcan, and tried to kill you, but he's here to help now."

A sudden wave of anger came over him. "Really? Why do all of you think that you know him just because he showed up and says he's here to help? The only ones that know what happened are Grovyle, Vulcan and me! You can't possibly know! So don't go telling me what you think you know about him!"

Dusknoir went to say something, but he cut him off. "You had the entire world fooled last time. Even me and Vulcan. But you won't trick me again. I refuse to trust you."

The big ghost nodded silently and melted into a pool of shadows that moved across to the opposite end of the chamber.

Dawn scowled at him. "You need to trust him, Connor."

He glared at her. "Don't tell me what to do."

She teared up and murmured. "...I know what he did. I've been in your head. Experienced your memories… Your pain. ...I know that you don't trust him. He nearly killed you, I know. But… I know that he's changed. The reason he showed up is because he wants a shot at redemption. And you've always given others second chances, right?"

"...Yeah, I guess…" he grimaced as he said that. This was Dusknoir they were talking about! The one who was bent on preserving a world of darkness so much that he was going to kill them because they were trying to save the world!

"Then give him a chance, too. Let him show you. So what if he betrays your trust? Just go kick his butt! You've got your entire team behind you if he does anything! And sometimes we have to give people a chance to do the right thing. Even when we don't believe they will."

A weak, disheartening smile formed across his mouth, but it disappeared just as quickly. "...I'll think about it."

* * *

 **Once again, Connor is being stubborn. Will he ever trust Dusknoir? Probably not! And Iden's first scene that involved fighting! Plus Cinder! What do you guys think of Vulcan's father? Pretty cool? Nah? Let me know! As always, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, and feel free to leave any questions, comments, concerns and theories in the form of a Review or PM! It's always appreciated!**

 **I am still in need of at least one more OC character to interact with Team Firestorm! If you have any cool ideas for a character, the guidelines are on my Profile! And after that, feel free to PM me your character! Much Love!**

 **-PL**


	13. When Problems Arise

**-Chapter XIII: When Problems Arise-**

 **-Roy-**

"So what's Connor's deal?" he asked.

"...I don't know. I guess Dusknoir really got on his bad side." Caroline replied.

"Yeah, I've never seen him snap like that before. Especially not to a new recruit." Alice's eyes were wide with surprise.

"Because Dusknoir almost killed us. After we thought he was our friend." Vulcan's voice came from behind them. Alice flinched, but turned around to face him. "...Still, Connor needs to trust him! He wouldn't show up without a good reason! And Amber trusts him, so there's that to think about, too!"

"It's not that simple, Alice. None of you saw what we saw. It's a lot worse than you'd think." His face had an unchanging depressed look about it. His mouth was downturned, and his eyes looked… well, depressing. Like his normally positive spirit had been broken. It was like part of him was still missing after that hypnosis.

Caroline tilted her head slightly. "It was like night-time all the time, right? That's not too bad."

"Take my word for it," Grovyle suddenly _appeared_ next to them, actually startling him slightly. "It's far worse than you can begin to imagine."

"Where did you even come from?" Mirage exclaimed. "Even I can't move that fast!"

"I came from over there," Grovyle gestured to their left without a hint of sarcasm. "Where I lived, those that were not swift did not survive very long."

Roy took that opportunity to slip away through the wall. He was no longer essential to the conversation. After the previous encounter with Mordred, he was determined to find him again. Mordred was holding back during their earlier fight. He didn't kill Dawn when he had a perfectly good chance to stab her with his arm blades. And the Bisharp also said that he _needed_ him alive. That raised many more questions, aside from the fact that Dawn was apparently being searched for as well. And if he could sense her in the middle of a forest, there was no doubt that any decent tracker in the Mafia could pinpoint her location with ease, which meant that she was like a beacon for their enemies.

As soon as he came out of the other side of the mountain, with a forest directly to their left, only a couple hundred meters away, he looked around at the night sky. It kind of threw him off, not seeing daylight for a whole twenty-four hours. He became tangible and laid down against the nearest boulder, staring into the cloudless night sky. "Wow… What are you doing, Roy?"

"I could ask you the same thing."

He instantly melted into shadows and swirled a mystical fire at the source of the sound, but the flames were absorbed and snuffed out in an instant. "For a ghost, you're really not that sneaky."

Grovyle crossed his arms while sitting atop a small pillar of stone, completely unaffected. Roy's jaw dropped as he came out of the shadows. "What the-?! How did you...?!"

The grass-type hopped off of the stone and paced forward. "I've picked up a few tricks. I'm a lot older than I look."

Roy realized that his jaw was still hanging open, so he quickly closed his mouth. "Um… Two things. How did you absorb my mystical fire, and how did you get out here as fast as I did?"

Grovyle chuckled slightly. "I'll answer after you. Why are you out here?"

"I simply needed some fresh air. That cave was getting a little too cozy for my taste."

Grovyle let out a short laugh. "Well, that's a lie. Tell me the truth."

Roy was tempted to play it off, but something about Grovyle made him nervous. He got the feeling that this grass-type could call his bluff no matter what he said.

"...I want answers."

The ground behind Grovyle began shifting and swelling up, and several vines two or three inches thick erupted from the barren stone ground. They formed into a reclining chair, and he eased himself into it, the vines shifting to accommodate his weight. "Answers to what?"

"Why Mordred is after Dawn."

Grovyle's expression didn't change, but Roy could just barely sense his confusion. "...Your guess is as good as mine. Perhaps he was trying to recruit her before your team did. She is a powerful ally, and a formidable foe."

"But he knows that she's with us now," he recalled. "She kind of kicked his butt for a minute before you came in."

He nodded slowly. "Had any of us known that he was looking for her, we would have never permitted her to come with us."

"Too late now," Roy grumbled. "Any decent tracker could sense her from miles away."

Grovyle leaned forward slightly. "Then your team is in danger."

Roy's eyes narrowed as he looked at Grovyle more intently. "What about your group? Surely they'll be in danger as well?"

Grovyle's eyes sparked for a moment, glowing in the night as a smile formed across his face. "Don't worry about us. We'll be fine." His smile lessened. "But as long as she is with your team, and doesn't know how to control her power, it's not safe. We'll have to-"

"Out of the question." Roy snapped. He would not tolerate leaving one of their teammates for dead, even if she was like a beacon.

Grovyle narrowed his eyes and continued. "...We'll have to train her to focus her power. Right now it is unrestrained, unable to be harnessed and controlled. If she can control her power, it will reduce her trackability immensely."

Roy's expression softened. "Oh. That's… That's a good plan."

He stood up and the chair receded into the ground. "I know. But before we can train anyone, we have to move. They already know where we are. Mordred's minions found you and Dusknoir within a day."

Roy nodded. "So… do we tell the others, or…?"

"I'll tell Amber," Grovyle decided. "And she'll tell Connor, who will tell your team. Right now, they respect him, but he's quickly succumbing to anger, especially where Dusknoir is concerned. And that will cause him to lose any and all respect that his teammates have."

"Listen, Grovyle… I like you. I really do. You're a stand-up guy, with saving the world by sacrificing yourself and whatnot. But you're wrong. We're all upset and don't know what to do. We're being hunted down. This isn't a fight anymore. This is a game. Well, to Mordred, anyways. And that makes it even more stressful, knowing that we don't even have a fighting chance… And… even the strongest of us break down. Four of our teammates died less than three days ago. I'm angry, Atlas is angry, Jade is angry... But Connor's the one that leads us. And, no offense, but you haven't been here to see what we've been through. Each and every one of us respects him as the leader of our team, and there is nothing in the world that can change that."

Grovyle stood up and crossed his arms with a slight smile. "Well spoken. I apologize for my… brash statement."

Grovyle began walking towards the wall of rock. He looked over his shoulder. "Are you coming?"

Roy was about to ask what he meant, when Grovyle suddenly vanished into the stone. "...He never answered me." He floated forward and found himself back in the main chambers. Everyone had fallen asleep aside from Basileus. And Grovyle seemed to be lying down and was already asleep. Roy thought about waking him and asking about what just happened, but he sighed and laid down. He might as well go to sleep. It didn't matter, but he needed to kill some time. He'd ask Grovyle about that in the morning.

When he did go to sleep, he immediately regretted it. He had a faint hope that the nightmares were over. But they were only becoming worse and worse.

 **-Connor-**

He shot awake to Roy sobbing. The wailing pierced his peaceful slumber as he sat straight up, then grunted in pain as the muscles in his previously broken arm tore from the jolt. "Seriously, Roy? You really had to scare us in the middle of the..." When Roy looked at him, he shuddered uncontrollably. His eyes were glowing solid red, shadowy tears running down his face. The shadows cast by Vulcan's and Amber's tails were swirling around him, seeming to be drawn in while forming creepy shapes and tortured faces, like spirits wailing in pain and intimidating images of giant pokémon. "...Night? Roy, what's wrong?"

"Arceus… Connor, please… Help me."

"What? Help you what?"

Roy's gaze made him so uncomfortable that he had to look away. Underneath his ghostly hat, the look he got made him feel like his entire being was being drawn in, like a vacuum of nothingness. When he finally got the strength to look back, Roy was mere inches from his face, his skin rippling and shimmering with the tears welling up in his eyes. "Connor… I'm sorry… I-I-I…"

The raw amount of fear emanating from Roy made Connor nearly punch him away, but he refrained. "Roy… What're you doing? What's wrong?"

"Everything. We're all going to die…" Then he sobbed. "It's hopeless…"

The others had begun stirring, and Grovyle had awoken as well. Roy scrunched his eyes closed and turned away. "It's hopeless… We're all doomed… Just like me…"

"Just like you? What're you talking about?"

"It's nothing. Just forget this conversation ever happened."

"But I-"

"I said FORGET IT!" the middle gem on Roy's chest glowed as he turned back, and exhaustion overcame him. He fell into a deep slumber.

* * *

He awoke pretty well-rested, in spite of the nightmare. That was really creepy. It felt really real, but he knew Roy would never act like that. When he looked toward the center of the cave, everybody else was already awake and eating breakfast, which was weird. Normally he woke up as soon as the others did. He sat up and winced at the pain in his arm. "What in the world?" He could've sworn that it was almost perfectly fine when he went to sleep. He sat up further and gritted his teeth. "Hey, Amber? Can you put some more healing paste on this thing? I think I slept on it wrong."

She smiled and walked forward. "Of course."

She pulled a small wooden bowl out of her wonder bag and rubbed the paste on his arm. It instantly began burning like acid, but after a minute, it felt way better. He placed his hand down and when he observed the morning, everybody else seemed in good spirits. They were all smiling and moving normally. Atlas had a scar running from the top of his right eye all the way down his chin that didn't heal right, but other than that, everyone was better than they'd been in a while.

Vulcan was still a bit crestfallen, but it wasn't anything they hadn't handled before. He'd be alright. He walked over to him while forcing a smile. "Hey, don't worry about it. We'll get Mordred for sure. And when we do..." He slammed his fist into his open palm. "We'll whoop his butt. Firestorm-style."

Vulcan sighed and looked down at him with watery eyes that reflected the light coming from the overhead crystal. "I know… But we don't even know where he is anymore… We were so close without even realizing it. And we messed it up…"

He gently nudged his shoulder. "It's okay, Vulcan…"

"No! It's not okay!" Tears fell down his face, and Connor leaned back slightly. "Stop telling me it's okay! Half our team is dead, I killed Rose, and in case you forgot, our house got blown up, so now we have to resort to hiding in a cave!"

"...I haven't forgotten. But... don't let it get you down."

Vulcan let out a sad laugh. "You know that I can't do that, Connor..."

"Um, excuse me? Do you know who you're talking to?"

Vulcan was clearly caught off guard by the forcefulness of his voice. He didn't even respond.

"You're talking to your best friend! The one that's been with you since the beginning! The one that disappeared and came back to save the world twice with you! I never have, and never will, tell you to do something that you're not capable of!"

Vulcan just stared at him with shock. Whether it was from the raised voice or not, He didn't know.

"Okay, I'd hate to ruin the absolutely _touching_ moment, but Amber's got something to say." Galvantula crawled up next to them. Vulcan nodded solemnly and turned to her, followed by Connor. She stood up and looked pointedly at them. "Connor and Vulcan, as the leaders of Team Firestorm, I want to include you in the decision we are about to make."

They both stayed silent, and she continued. "After consulting with Briar and Grovyle, we have deemed it unsafe here. Mordred's group has found Roy and Dusknoir within a day. And more importantly, they are capable of taking them both down at once. Granted, we don't know how many there were-"

"There were two." Dusknoir broke in. He glanced around and gestured for her to continue. "Apologies, Briar. That's all I recalled."

"...There were two attackers, working for -or with- Mordred, that were successfully able to take down both Dusknoir and Roy at once, at night, which is when Ghost-types are strongest. So, in conclusion, we would like to inform you of this predicament before we make any decisions."

Connor hastily nodded. "If they found us already, of course we should move. Find somewhere to recover."

"Hold on," Atlas stood up. "We're already recovered. Why can't we just stay here? Let them come to us? We're all back in fighting condition! I'm sick of running!"

"We've got to get a lot stronger before we can hope to take them on," Vulcan said. "There's no telling what kind of other tricks they've got up their sleeves."  
"I agree," Jade put in. "If they had psychics that could hypnotize Vulcan to the point of almost killing Connor, then they will undoubtedly try to capture one of us and do the same thing. Turning us against each other has proven to be simple work for them."

Atlas crossed his arms and grumbled something under his breath. He grabbed his paint bag and began walking. Connor placed a hand against his chest, stopping him. "Slow your roll, man! There's no rush!"

He pushed Connor's arm aside with his lower pair of hands. "Every second we spend waiting around is another second for Mordred and his group to get their strength back!"

"I don't care! I'm doing what's best for the team, Atlas! Right now, keeping us safe is my priority!"

"What's best for the team?!" Atlas spat. "What's best for the team is weakening that group, then giving it everything we've got! We have eight more pokémon on our side now! We can do it!"

"Actually… about that…" Galvantula tilted his head down. "We can't exactly kill any pokémon in the mafia."

It took a moment for that to sink into his head. When it did, his expression went from surprised to angry in a split second. "What do you mean you can't kill any of the mafia pokémon?!"

"We're kind of from the future, man. Anything we do directly would probably alter the course of history, and that would be bad."

"So why are you here, then?! You can't even help us!"

"First, watch that tone, boi. Second, you need to lighten up. We can still protect you without killing your enemies!" He changed his stature and imitated Atlas' voice, "How can you help us, Galvantula?" He returned to his normal position and used his regular voice. "Oh, I'm glad you asked, muscles! We can disable and knock out as many pokémon as we want, but you guys have to deal the finishing -or killing- blow, otherwise that's a whole 'nother mess we've gotta deal with."

Atlas relaxed slightly, but Alice spoke up. "Why do you have to-"

Briar interjected. "If we alter history by killing anyone in the past, especially ones directly tied to your team, such as the Mafia group, we would have to live in the altered timeline, which would be drastically different than it is now, causing us to have to come back to the past again and fix it, resulting in another incident similar to the one two years ago."

Alice narrowed her eyes suspiciously, but eventually nodded at Briar's unrelenting glare.

Connor nodded. "Alright… Fine. Amber, let's get a move on"

Tyranitar stood up while Celebi's eyes glowed, opening the entrance. "Amber, you might want to take them out of here."

"Why?" Caroline asked.

"Because I'm going to take down the shelter and make it harder for that group to pinpoint our location." Tyranitar replied.

She rolled her eyes and followed Grovyle out of the cave. Vulcan walked next to Amber, followed by Roy and Dusknoir. Jade just floated through the wall, and Alice and Atlas followed next to Briar. He took up the rear with Basileus, Mirage and Galvantula.

"So… Basileus."

"Yes?"

The side of his face that had an eyepatch was facing Connor, so he couldn't tell if the Sceptile was looking at him or not.

He slowed down and kept his voice at a low whisper. "About the whole… Temporal Guardian thing-"

Basileus whipped his head around to face him. The ferocity in his eye made anything he was about to say turn into silence. "...Never mind."

Basileus nodded solemnly and kept walking. After they exited the tunnel, it was mid-afternoon, and a partly-cloudy day meant that the sun was blinding to look at, especially reflecting off of the mountainous stone.

"...Forgive me, Connor… It is a sensitive subject."

He shrugged and tried to be nonchalant about it. "Eh. It's whatever. You're a temporal Guardian. So's Celebi and Lapras. How does the rest of the group not think you're the leader? I mean, you kind of fit the bill, with the authoritative figure, the eyepatch and all that stuff. Next to Amber, they seem to look up to you."

Basileus went to speak, then stopped for a moment. "...Amber was the one that made this possible. Her incantations can span across time somehow. They reached Celebi and I, then we gathered the rest of the pokémon you see before you."

 _She can travel across time… That settles it._

Connor knew the Sceptile was holding information back, so he decided to play the whole amnesia card, which he didn't like doing very often. "Back when I was a Mudkip… Grovyle said I was the leader of the Insurgo."

"That is correct. You were."

He continued. "And that when I was a human, I had some incredible power, or something."

He nodded slowly and smiled. "You actually saved my life at one point… Twice, actually."

"But… Amber introduced you guys as the insurgo, and she sure as heck seems like the leader. That means that she was the leader after I came here, right? How did that happen?"

He shrugged. "Originally I was second in command. But when you went through time the first time… You accidentally travelled too far back. You met her in a prehistoric jungle. Her abilities were extraordinary, allowing her to absorb the power of any being she came into contact with and use it as her own, all without having a negative impact on the being affected."

"A Charizard had that ability?"

He nodded. "She was not evolved when you met her. But after you brought her back to the future, everybody held her in high esteem. She helped us fight Dialga's army one final time, and I let her become the new leader in your place. I hadn't expected to come back after the future had been changed."

"...Huh. That's confusing."

A tiny hint of a smile tugged at the edge of his mouth. "You would get it if you remembered."

"Oh… Low blow, man. Making fun of my amnesia? I can _not_ believe you." Connor jested.

"Everything I said could have been a lie, you know. How do you know I'm not lying?"

"Eh. You don't seem like the lying type. And it sounds like something I would do as a human, and Grovyle mentioned her too, in the future."

Basileus nodded and regained his neutral expression. "We're here."

Connor didn't notice, but during the length of their conversation, they had already walked several miles, all the way back to Apple woods. Which, even with Celebi putting them in a temporal field to speed up time inside of the area surrounding them, was a long way to walk in less than a minute. They stood at the edge of the forest, and Amber closed her eyes while clasping her hands together. Galvantula leaned towards him and whispered, "Watch the horizon, man. This part's so cool!"

Before he could ask what that meant, he felt a massive shock wave ripple across the entire landscape. Waves of earth heaved underneath them, and a flash on the horizon blinded him. When his vision cleared, the mountain that they had come from was gone in a cloud of dust. His jaw nearly dropped as Tyranitar, still mega-evolved, sprinted almost as fast as Mirage, appearing in front of them in a blur of green and red. His skin glistened like he just got coated in wax, and the cool air around him began steaming from the raw power emanating from him. He took a deep breath and smirked. "That was fun…"

Amber rolled her eyes in response. "You also got the attention of every pokémon on this side of the great mountain range."

"Hey, if I didn't do it, then they would have had our scent like crazy! They probably have a tracker in their group! I did us a favor!"

"Let's just get out of here." Connor said. "Where are we going next?"

"I'd like to take shelter in the forest," Grovyle commented. "It's where at least six of us are strongest, provides many tactical advantages since we don't know what species our opponents are, and it's well-hidden from our foes, with lots of mystery dungeons for them to potentially get lost in."

Galvantula laughed and gestured to the treeline behind them. "And, to top it off, plenty of trees nearby, G! I think this forest is perfect!"

"But," Jade interrupted, "What if our opponents are strongest in the forest? That may very well be the case, since they ambushed Dusknoir and Roy at night in a forest and were able to not only subdue them, but capture them and erase their memories of the encounter."

Grovyle nodded and looked to Briar. "We have already anticipated that possibility. There aren't many pokémon better versed in jungle combat than our species, and if push comes to shove, we have Tyranitar. We will be fine."

"I'd still feel safer if we knew what species those two pokémon were," Basileus said. "but complaining about it won't do anything. I agree with my son. We should take shelter in a forest… One that is far from here."

Dawn smiled and clasped her hands together. "I could teleport us again."

"Roy, Jade and I will shadow-travel," Dusknoir quickly put in. "I do not wish to teleport by psychic warping again."

"Agreed," Jade said.

"Same here," Roy agreed. "It's not good for our health."

"Meet us at the southern entrance of treeshroud forest," Basileus said. "And do not be late."

"Understood," Dusknoir replied as he began dissolving into shadows. "Let us see which form of travelling is faster, shall we?"

Then they all vanished. Dawn smiled even wider. "Can I teleport us now?"

Amber nodded. "Yes. Try to keep us together, and don't hurt yourself in the process. Treeshroud forest is on the opposite side of Immanis. A lot further than fifty miles."

Dawn giggled. "Pfft! Please, I can do it! I don't have to transport three ghost-types this time!" She paused for a moment, then said, "a hundred poké says that we'll get there before them."

She closed her eyes, and everything around Connor became solid white and gold, zipping by in a blur of motion as he was teleported alongside the rest of his group.

* * *

So this is Chapter 13. I hope you guys enjoyed it! I'm delving a bit deeper into Roy's past, and there appears to be even greater tensions between Atlas and Connor now. That being said, go ahead and leave your questions, comments, concerns and theories in the form of a Review or PM! It is always appreciated!

And I regret to inform you that the next Firestorm Battle Royale will not be uploaded until tomorrow, due to work and school and parents making me work at the house when i'm not at work. And writer's block. Bleh. That's why I write all my stuff in advance for you guys. Each and every one of you is special to me! Aerojester, OnyxWhip, Kurashi, DeoxysSpeed, Grey917, thank you guys for being my most active readers! You guys help me to keep writing! Much Love!

-PL


	14. A New Arrival on the Scene

**-Chapter XIV: A New Arrival on the Scene-**

 **-Manaphy-**

Honestly, travelling with this team was really cool. They didn't hunt outlaws every day like Vulcan and Connor did. They were just... explorers. It was a refreshing change, not having to fight all the time. Granted, he enjoyed beating bad guys, but this was enjoyable in a different kind of way. Manaphy thought he knew every ocean mystery dungeon, including where they were, but this team found new dungeons right and left that he had never heard of or seen.

Plus, since time didn't speed up in ocean dungeons, they could explore multiple in one day. Their first full day consisted of finding two new dungeons just south of Tirtouga Isles. He was sad that first day when he saw Lapras glide away with his friends, and didn't want anything to do with this team. He wanted to stay with Vulcan. But Vulcan said no. He tried to run away that first night, but this team knew their way around better than he did, which was saying a lot. Growing up with walrein, he knew just about every twist and turn in every reef around Immanis. But still, they caught up to him in a matter of minutes.

At first he didn't like Narobi, the Slowking. He had that look about him like he was superior to everyone else, which Manaphy found irritating. Hydro was pretty cool, but he was kind of impatient. He could shoot hydro pumps out of his hands to propel himself through the water faster than most other water-types could swim. He also helped train him on off days by teaching him the basics of hand-to-hand combat. Today they were training in the battle arena, a stadium-sized room with a roof that was open to the surface of the water.

"Now, due to your small size, and the fact that you don't really have any arms for punching," the Poliwrath said, "You'll have to use special moves as your primary way to combat opponents. Narobi's more skilled in that department, but I can help you out well enough for right now." He tossed a small pink disc to him. "Psychic. Tap it to your forehead to learn the move."

Manaphy did as he was told, and he felt his mind become more honed and insanely powerful. He was suddenly more aware of everything around him. He was able to sense the currents better than ever before. "Wow… This is incredible!"

Hydro crossed his arms. "But before we can do anything, you've gotta show me what you've got."

"Huh?"

"Attack me with all your strength. We'll go from there."

Manaphy tilted his head slightly. "Um… Are you sure I can-"

"If I can't take you, then you'll be able to beat almost every pokemon in the ocean. Now come on!"

Manaphy shrugged and swam forward, readying whirlpool. The water in the battle arena began swirling around, and Hydro crossed his arms, practically unaffected. "That the best you got?"

"Not even close!" Manaphy smirked as he used shadow ball. The Poliwrath deflected it with a swing of his fist, and he gained a red aura around him. Manaphy recognized swords dance and activated psych up. He felt a massive energy boost and used substitute. He set the decoy aside and moved with blinding speed behind the poliwrath while it was distracted. He went to use giga impact, but the Poliwrath shot straight upwards in a flurry of bubbles.

Manaphy's jaw dropped at the sheer speed, then he realized that he was completely unprotected. He closed his eyes and used heart swap, a move that Walrein had explained to him while growing up. Basically it swapped his consciousness with another pokémon of his choice.

He opened his eyes and saw himself through Hydro's eyes. Hydro was in Manaphy's body, which obviously disoriented him. Manaphy found the fingers on his hands weird. He hit himself with dynamic punch while Hydro was trying to swim in the new body, feebly trying to attack with his little arms. Manaphy used dynamic punch again, and his consciousness began fading. He activated heart swap again and returned to his own body, full of energy again. Hydro stared at him, wide-eyed. "How did you…?"

"It's one of my special moves!" Manaphy declared. "Heart swap!"

He grimaced and grabbed his stomach. "Not bad, kid… Not bad."

Then Manaphy was gripped with a strong psychic force, then immediately released. Narobi appeared on the sidelines and used heal pulse on Hydro. His wounds healed and his eyes sparked with energy again. He turned to Manaphy and narrowed his eyes. "But what happens if you can't use your special move? What will you fall back on? Narobi just disabled your heart swap. Try and beat me without it."

He charged forward again, and Manaphy met the dynamic punch with a dive attack, sinking rapidly, then firing upwards into the Poliwrath's stomach.  
He took the attack and countered with a kick, sending Manaphy tumbling backwards through the water. He rushed forward again, but Manaphy was ready. He darted straight up, over Hydro's outstretched arms, and used energy ball. The condensed orb of green energy shot forward at blinding speed, creating a cloud of bubbles when it hit Hydro's back.

He waited for a moment, but was hit from behind with a water pulse. It shot him through the water, and Hydro floated in front of him, perfectly fine. He nodded in approval. "That was a good shot. Now, again!"

 **-Roy-**

When they phased into the shadow realm, Roy smirked. "I heard you, Dawn."

"What was that?" Dusknoir glanced back at him, and he shrugged. "Nothing. How fast can we get there?"

Dusknoir's stomach-mouth smiled. "We're already here."

"Oh." He floated into reality, and a massive forest spanned out for miles in each direction. Roy whistled. "This is Treeshroud Forest? Isn't this where Grovyle-"

"Where he obtained the first Time Gear, yes. It is located in the heart of the forest. No one besides he and I would ever think to touch it, even if someone was to find it."

Jade looked around wordlessly, and Roy decided not to say anything to her. _She's been through so much… yet she stays so strong. Incredible. You're really a lot tougher than I thought. And… You've got my respect._

He laughed out loud at himself. _Did I really just think that?_

Jade stared at him with her usual unamused look, but other than that, she didn't say anything.

Then flashes of light appeared in the forest, followed by three massive energy signatures. _Amber, Connor and Dawn…_ He smirked. "We got here first."

Dusknoir nodded and sounded a bit surprised. "Of course. Shadow-travelling doesn't require travelling through space or time, as it's an entirely different reality. We can be anywhere that there are shadows instantaneously."

One by one, the rest of the group emerged. Grovyle and Celebi came out first, followed by Basileus and Briar, then Connor and Vulcan, then the rest of them, one after another.

When Dawn emerged from the treeline, Roy floated over to her. "That's one hundred poké you owe me."

She jokingly punched him. "Shut it, Roy-boy. I don't owe you anything."

"We got here first!"

"So?"

"You said that you guys would get here first. But we did!"

She rubbed her head and tilted her head up at him. "You try teleporting nineteen pokémon at once! It's hard!"

"I would gladly-"

"Quiet!" Basileus' voice rolled over them, hushing the conversations immediately.

Galvantula quickly formed a thick ball of webbing between his tendrils and threw it into the air. Basileus grabbed it with four vines grown from the ground and began spreading it across the trees. "Get to the forest! Stay together!"

Everyone complied, including Roy. That Sceptile scared him. Which was weird. Normally _he_ was the one doing the scaring. Anywho, once they reached the treeline, Basileus drew the webbing in front of the group with the vines. Nothing seemed to change, but they watched as a Noivern and Crobat flew overhead in the distance.

"...Koumori?" Connor speculated.

"Or the punk from team Skull," Atlas muttered.

"But he wouldn't leave Koff- I mean, Weezing, and Skuntank without a good reason," Connor argued. "It's got to be Koumori."

"How in Arceus' name do they find us so fast?" Roy wondered aloud. "It's literally been a minute since we travelled halfway across Immanis!"

"Relax. It's more than likely not them," Briar said. "There are other Crobats in the world, after all."

Suddenly Alice perked up. "Did you hear that?"

"What?" Atlas asked.

"...It sounds like… I don't know. Not forest pokémon..."

"The Mafia, maybe?" Connor rolled his eyes and groaned. "They've probably got pokémon scouring every mystery dungeon for us by now. And Treeshroud Forest is one of the most obvious places to hide. I bet Mordred sent a bunch of pokemon here."

"Then let's send Grovyle to go check it out! He can handle himself if anything were to come up!" Caroline said.

"Just him?" Galvantula exclaimed. "Send Connor with him, at least! Goodness, you pokémon don't know the first thing about sending scouting parties! Always send at least two, and never split up for any longer than necessary!"

"Also, if this Mafia group is smart, they would send pokémon native to the habitat that they were searching to avoid detection. It is quite possible that it is a trap meant to lure us in." Basileus added.

Connor shrugged. "Well, we'll see if it's a trap when we get there. Let's go, Grovyle."

"I want to go too!" Dawn raised her hand. Connor tilted his head slightly and forced a smile. "Oh… Heh. Dawn… Listen, I think that this is more of a two-man kind of thing, y'know? And you're not really experienced like Grovyle and I… No offense or anything, but I think you should sit this one out."

"But what if one of you gets in trouble? I can teleport back and send help!"

Grovyle shook his head and stood up. "We'll be fine. Don't worry about us."

"But-" before she could argue, they ran off into the forest.

 **-Shiftry-**

"Arceus, can you be any louder?!" He turned back to the Scolipede that scuttled through the foliage, making a huge ruckus that would draw the attention of every pokémon in the forest.

"Sorry. I just evolved, remember?"

The Shiftry rolled his eyes and turned to the Scrafty on his right. "Remind me why we brought him along…"

"Just in case that Ralts is with them," the Scrafty said. "His Poison Tail will take her down in a jiffy."

The Scolipede sighed and moved faster to keep up with them, and the Scrafty clenched his fists. "Should've brought Nagini, or heck, even Drapion from AWD would've been better," he mumbled.

Shiftry grunted and looked around at the forest. "So why did Mordred send us here, anyways? They were just seen near Mount Horn yesterday. No way a group that big can travel that fast."

Scrafty groaned and replied, "Mordred said that Treeshroud Forest is the most likely place. The Grovyle seen with them is supposed to be the one that stole the time gears. That Grovyle probably knows this place like the back of his hand."

"Very good."

The Shiftry did a 180 and came face to face with a Grovyle two feet from him. "Your partners are really loud. Honestly, I'm surprised you guys made it past the native pokémon."

Shiftry unleashed the whirlwind, but the Grovyle didn't budge. When he looked down, he realized his feet were rooted to the ground.

Then the wood gecko closed his fist, and a forest of vines shot up from the ground. Shiftry stumbled backwards and began running, but the foliage around his feet wrapped around his legs and he ate the dirt. He rolled onto his back and used whirlwind again, but the Grovyle vanished and reappeared right next to him. "Wha-?!"

He reached into his bag and pulled out an escape orb, "Scrafty! Scolipede!"

The Grovyle moved forward with unreal speed and swatted the orb out of his hand. "You're not going anywhere."

Scolipede snuck up behind the Grovyle silently, and the Shiftry forced down a smile. _Now use Venoshock… Or Poison Tail... Anything!_

Then a single leaf cracked underneath the giant bug's many legs, and the Grovyle whirled around in the blink of an eye, the three leaves on his arms morphing together into one long leaf blade. He sliced off the arthropod's horns and knocked him aside with a handful of seed bombs.

Shiftry took that opportunity to run away, but he was stopped by a wall of stone. He took a step back as the Swampert floated through the wall of stone on another boulder, the rocks separating to allow passage through for only a moment. "Where you goin', mate?"

The Shiftry smiled cruelly and used mega drain, a thin vine of energy shooting from his hand into the Swampert's skin. "You're at a serious type disadvantage."

But the Swampert's bracelet glowed green and the attack seemed to restore his energy instead of draining it. Connor looked down at the bracelet, then back at him. "Oh, yeah… Swamp Bangle… Forgot about that." His fist glowed white and a smile formed across his face. "Restores my energy when I get hit with grass-type moves. Pretty handy, since it's my only weakness."

He used brick break, but Shiftry flew backwards with a quick flap of his leaf fans, just out of reach of the Swampert's arms. He began running, but was cut off by another barrier made of vines. He narrowed his eyes and used razor wind, charging up razor-sharp blades of air. Before he could use the attack, seed bombs detonated at his feet, sending clouds of green powder into the air. He fought as drowsiness overtook him, but he soon collapsed, losing consciousness from the spores invading his lungs.

 **-Connor-**

He laughed as he held the shiftry aloft with ancient power. "Wow, Grovyle! You've gotten better since you went back to the future!"

The grass-type crossed his arms from the branches twenty feet above. "I've had a lot of time to learn. Now-" He was suddenly hit with a thunderbolt, the blue arc of electricity frying the branch he was previously standing on. "Aaaagh!" And he fell out of the tree, hitting the ground with a loud thud. Connor looked around for the usual yellow coloration of an electric-type, but saw nothing. He looked around wildly, then was hit from behind with an iron tail. His head hit the ground, and he saw the Scrafty book it. He growled and began running after him, but saw a blur of electricity tackle the Scrafty from the side, followed by multiple electric jolts.

He ventured closer, and saw that a dark grey pokémon was beating the Scrafty senseless, kneeling on top of him. "Where are they?!"

The Scrafty squealed, "I don't know nothin'!"

The pokémon hit him with a thunder punch, his small fist crackling with electricity, and the Scrafty seizured out for a moment. "That's a lie! You're working with Victor!"

Connor stopped in his tracks. _Victor? Who's that? Wait, didn't the Krookodile say...?_

"Who's Vict-gak!"

The grey pokémon used some fighting-type move, and the Scrafty gasped for breath. "You know who it is! Now answer me, or I'm gonna keep hitting you until you stop squirming!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa… hold on," Connor decided to intervene. He couldn't see the pokémon clearly due to its coloration and the shadows from the trees, but its cheeks sparked when it looked at him. "And who are you? Are you with this sorry excuse for a-"

"No! No, no, no… We're actually… They're hunting us down. We're here for... I _think_ the same reason as you."

The pokémon hit the Scrafty with another brick break and said, "Stay down, if you know what's good for you," then walked closer. When Connor saw it, he was kind of caught off guard. "You're a pikachu?"

He nodded with a scowl. "Yeah."

"But… Your fur-"

"What about it?" His tone was dangerous, but Connor chuckled at the ash-grey coloration of his pelt. None of the moves this pokémon could learn really did a lot of damage to him, and all of his electric-type attacks were useless. "Nothing. Nothing... I'm just wondering what you want with these guys."

"What's it to you?" The Pikachu crossed his arms. He was moderately tall for a Pikachu, about two feet, including his ears.

Connor went to answer, but the Pikachu charged an electro ball in the blink of an eye and shot it over his head. He turned around to see the Scolipede get knocked back by the blast. The Pikachu leapt forward, but Connor grabbed him by his tail, "Hold on! Goodness, you're trigger-happy."

"I want answers!" The electric-type used thunderbolt, but Connor absorbed the attack without even flinching.

"Answers to what?"

"Where Victor is!"

"What's your name, anyways?"

"Doesn't matter!"

"A-Answers?" The Scolipede managed. "I can give you answers."

The mouse pokemon narrowed his eyes and used thunder wave, paralyzing the arthropod with a blue wave of electricity from his eyes after Connor let go of his tail. "Talk. Before I lose my patience."

The Scolipede strained against the paralysis, but the electric mouse walked up to it. Connor started to say something, but the grey Pikachu's cheeks sparked. "Do not interrupt me. I don't know who you are, but you'd better stay back."

Connor shrugged and stood still. The Scolipede went to talk, but was cut off by three leaf blades protruding from the back of its head. It roared and sprayed poison everywhere, forcing the Pikachu to retreat. "Damn it! Come on!"

Grovyle, slightly singed and a few burning holes in his leaf hair, leapt down and swept the Pikachu off of his feet in the blink of an eye. Before the Pikachu could even charge up enough energy for a thunder jolt, Grovyle snared his neck in a vine whip. "Explain yourself. _Now._ "

The Pikachu swallowed nervously. "Alright, I'll talk… My name… Is Aaron. But before I tell you anything else, I need to ask the Scolipede some questions."

Grovyle humphed and raised his hand without preamble, and vines erupted from the ground to their right. The Scrafty was held aloft in the air. "Oi! Let me down!"

"I don't think so," Grovyle replied. "You're a part of the Mafia."

"Am not!" The Scrafty fought the entangling mass of vines, only getting more and more stuck in them.

"You were talking about Mordred, then our group, specifically. Care to explain that?"

The Scrafty's eyes widened slightly, but he remained silent. Grovyle opened his hand and the vines stopped moving. The Scrafty was hopelessly tangled in a cocoon of vines, so he wouldn't be moving anytime soon. Grovyle clenched his fist, and the vines squeezed the Scrafty until it passed out. He diverted his attention back to the grey Pikachu, which still had Connor curious as to how he got that coloration. Even the shinies were only a little bit darker yellow. Even if his fur were _really_ dirty, it wouldn't be solid grey.

"I'll ask again. You'd better explain why you shot me with a thunderbolt, before I kill you right here."

Connor tilted his head, "Grovyle, what about your "Restric-""

"They don't apply in this scenario." Grovyle glared at him, and somehow Connor got his meaning. _Don't blow this._

Connor nodded and stared at Aaron. He decided to levitate a boulder directly above his head to help out. "Listen, Aaron. I don't know what your deal is with them, but you'd better start explaining yourself."

Aaron shot a thunderbolt at the boulder, shattering it after no more than a second. The shards caused Grovyle to cover his eyes. Aaron hit Grovyle's shins with an iron tail, causing him to stumble backwards and drop the noose. Grovyle retaliated with vine whips, but Aaron glowed with a golden aura and vanished into the forest with unreal agility.

Grovyle slammed his fist into the nearest tree. "Why did you do that?! I had him!"

Connor's jaw was still hanging open, awestruck by the Pikachu's resourcefulness. "Sorry. I didn't mean to-"

"Sorry?! You of all people should know that sorry doesn't mean anything!" Grovyle took a deep breath and turned back to the Scolipede. "You. Tell me where Victor is."

"I don't know who that is! Honest!"

"Then why was that Pikachu so convinced that the Scrafty knew something?"

"Because Scrafty's higher up in the operatives that are led by Team Virus!"

Grovyle's eyes narrowed. "A team led by a Seviper?"

"With a Haxorus, Banette and Klinklang, yeah! They do all the dirty work, recruiting new members, scouting potential hideouts, all under the disguise of an exploration team!"

Grovyle pinned the Scolipede down with vines and moved closer. "Who gives them orders?"

"Mordred! I swear!"

Grovyle nodded slightly, and Connor just sat back and couldn't help but almost laugh. This Scolipede was giving up information way too easily. But by all means, he wasn't complaining.

Grovyle pressed his leaf blades closer to the Scolipede's unprotected underside, a piercing scowl unnerving Connor even from ten feet away. "Tell me where Mordred is."

"I-I-in a base just southeast of Mt. Travail! That's where headquarters are! If he's not there, then he'll be back there some time in the next two days! He got promoted after a bunch of exploration teams started rebelling and trying to take them down! I-I-I heard some names going around, and I heard that Victor, who was apparently the leader at the time, went into hiding till Mordred takes care of the rebels!"

Grovyle's leaf blades began glowing as his scowl deepened. "What species is Victor?"

"I don't know! Nobody except for super high-rank pokémon like Rogue, Mordred, Koumori and Team Virus have even seen him!"

Connor recalled what had happened at one point during the battle. Vincent had transformed into a Honchkrow, and the Krookodile seemed to recognize him as Victor. "Is he a Honchkrow?"

"I said I don't know! I swear!"

Grovyle held up a small, green, spherical seed in front of the giant bug. "You know what this is?"

When the arthropod shook its head, Grovyle replied, "This is the seed bomb I will ram down your throat if you don't tell me what I need to know. And for all that armor you guys have on the outside, I know bug types aren't that tough on the inside."

The Scolipede shook its head and looked like it was about to cry out of fear. "I swear I don't know! I was only enlisted a week ago, tops! Please don't kill me!"

Grovyle rolled his eyes and held up the seed bomb. "Suit yourself-"

"No, no, no! Wait-!"

"He's telling the truth." Grovyle whirled around towards the source of the noise, and Dawn floated from behind a tree. "He doesn't know what species Victor is. In fact, he doubts that Victor is even real."

Connor nearly shouted with surprise. "Dawn! I told you this was a two-man-"

"I wanted to help! I just interrogated him without having to hurt him! I think you guys should be thanking me!"

Connor sighed and did a face-palm. "Dawn, that's not the point." He turned back to the Scolipede, then shifted his pupils towards Dawn. "Since you're here, what does he know?"

"Nothing he didn't tell you."

Connor smirked. "Excellent." He grabbed his badge and clicked one of the wings down one notch. It blinked with a golden light from the center, and he turned to Grovyle. "I'll turn these guys in to Magnezone. When I tap them with it, they'll be warped straight into the containment facility."

The Scolipede tried to back away, but Grovyle closed his fist and about a hundred vines dragged it to the ground. Connor sighed as it begged for him to let him go. "Sorry. You should've thought about it before you joined these guys." He tapped the Scolipede with the badge, and it was transported away in a ball of golden light.

He turned around to the still-passed-out Shiftry and repeated the process. Grovyle took the badge and leapt up to the Scrafty, and he was whisked away in another orb of golden light.

Grovyle looked into the forest, then at Dawn. He rubbed his leaf hair, poking his claws through the burn holes in the giant leaf. "...I'll be right back." and he vanished in a blur of green and red, zooming through the forest faster than the eye could follow.

 **-Aaron-**

He dashed through Treeshroud forest as fast as lightning, making sure to put some distance between those two pokémon and himself. They were strong, but the Swampert wasn't very good at interrogating. It was almost like he wanted him to escape. The Grovyle made him nervous, though. That's why he ambushed them beforehand. If they ended up being hostiles, then that would have been problematic. Even if they were the enemies of his enemies, that didn't make them his friends. He had to be cautious.

He leapt through the trees, making sure to keep to the shadows. A trick that he picked up after a couple years of staying on the run. His grey fur helped keep him hidden in darkness and not be so easy to spot. The forest was ideal, since the numerous shadows cast at all times during the day by the trees helped with his natural camouflage.

After his agility wore off, he climbed the nearest tree. It was probably in the late afternoon. Maybe two hours until sunset. He climbed up to a branch that was just sturdy enough to support his body weight, which wasn't that difficult. Even though he was nearly twice as big as most other Pikachus, he still only weighed about twenty pounds, as far as he knew. He leaned back against the trunk of the towering pine tree and closed his eyes for a moment. That encounter was a little too close for his taste.

 _Those two ruined it…_ He gritted his teeth and opened his eyes. _I was so close, too… But sooner or later… I will find Victor. And I will kill him._

* * *

Well, it's nice to see that Manaphy is doing alright! And since Team Firestorm made it to Treeshroud Forest, that's a plus! But oh my... Who was that Pikachu? And how did Grovyle get hit by it's thunderbolt? And what's with his grey fur? And how does he know about Victor?! So many new questions that have been created! Oh my goodness! (Aaron is an OC submitted by Grey917. Go ahead and give his profile a visit if you want!)

So what did you guys think of that chapter? I hope you guys enjoyed! As always, feel free to leave your questions, comments, concerns and theories in the form of a Review or PM!

And I sincerely apologize for not being able to post the latest Firestorm Battle Royale. I have been absolutely slammed with work and school, I barely have time to post chapters. It will be uploaded next monday for sure! Look forward to it! Much Love!

-PL


	15. An Electric Aura

**-Chapter XV: An Electric Aura-**

 **-Aaron-**

He awoke to the sound of a snapping branch. As soon as he realized he had fallen asleep, he chastised himself. He was in hostile territory. Sleep was a luxury, and definitely not something he could afford right now. He crouched low to the branch he was perched on and looked at the forest floor. His cheeks sparked slightly, hinting at his anxiousness.

He saw some leaves rustle in a straight path, followed by rapid footsteps. Before he could register what it was, he was slammed into the trunk of the tree, with the Grovyle from before staring him down, his hand on his throat. "You really thought you could outrun me?"

Aaron didn't talk, instead, he observed any possible ways out of this situation. There were no thick branches in the immediate vicinity, and the Grovyle's eyes glowed with anger. He clenched down harder and raised his other arm, the three leaves lining up and elongating into a glowing leaf blade. "Why did you attack us? Are you working with Victor?"

Upon hearing that name, he used discharge, using all of his electricity, causing the Grovyle to let go and retreat off of the branch. He caught his breath from the massive discharge and used agility to vanish into the shadows again. He landed on the forest floor with hardly a sound and took off. He used agility once more and zoomed through the forest so fast he kicked up a mini whirlwind when he passed through a patch of leaves.

He focused on hiding out until the Grovyle gave up on chasing him. Everyone else he had escaped had given up. Sometimes it took a couple days, even a week, but they always did. He didn't anticipate tripping and tumbling for ten feet while eating rotting leaves. A grass knot had grown instantaneously, and when he looked up, the Grovyle was towering over him, crossing his arms. "You're not faster than me."

Aaron got up and brushed himself off. "Alright, fine. What do you want?"

"I asked you first," the Grovyle said. "Who are you working for?"

"I work alone," Aaron snapped back.

The Grovyle scrunched his eyebrows and frowned. "You're a rogue?"

"Yeah. I don't necessarily like exploration teams, alright? So leave me alone."

"Hmph. You've had a rough experience, huh?" the Grovyle leaned into a chair that was made from leaves and vines. "What did they do that made you mad enough that you attack anyone you see?"

"Nothing. I was never part of an exploration team." He decided to be somewhat honest. Judging by the way this Grovyle displayed himself so carelessly, he was pretty sure that he would lose if they were to fight. He didn't want to find out what this grass-type was capable of if he cut loose, if what he saw earlier was any indication.

The Grovyle nodded slowly. "I see… Perhaps an 'Exploration Team' did something horrible to you at one point… Perhaps they took the life of someone close to you."

"What's it to you?" He scowled and crossed his arms.

"Honestly, it means nothing to me. I've dealt with plenty of death in my lifetime. And you attacked us without warning. Good reason or not, I don't take kindly to that. And yet you have the same enemy we do. Mordred, or Victor, whoever's in charge of this criminal organization." He paused, then continued. "How much progress have you made?"

"I would've found out everything I needed to know, if you two hadn't butted in and stopped me!"

"So… you've made no progress?"

"I would've! I could have gotten everything I needed to know out of those three!"

"You would have killed them," he replied.

"They deserve it for what they did! They joined a group responsible for the massacre of hundreds across the continent and surrounding islands!"

"That is no reason to make yourself an outlaw in the process. What will that accomplish? Your ultimate goal is to find Victor, obviously. If you had to stay on the run from the police _while trying to_ hunt down Victor, then that would only make things harder for you."

Aaron wanted to argue, but this Grovyle had guessed everything about him spot-on.

He arched an eyebrow at the grass-type, and noticed strange, pitch-black markings on both of his arms, almost like tattoos… Or brands. "Who are you to lecture me? How do you know what being an outlaw is like?"

The Grovyle narrowed his eyes and leaned forward in his plant chair. "You're looking at Grovyle... the Time Gear Thief. The one that took the Time Gears two years ago."

Aaron reeled back with shock. "You're-?! You're _the_ Grovyle?!"

He nodded. "Yes."

Aaron quickly returned to his original expression. "But... I thought that you were from the future."

"I am. But I'm back. Now the reason I'm telling you this isn't to prove my point about how strong I am. It was to get your attention. And I am telling the truth about who I am. However, I am still talking to you for one reason; You and I are similar."

He arched an eyebrow. "How so?"

He chuckled lightly. "Well, for one, you've got spunk. And the drive to take down anyone if they stand in your way. That's a good quality to have. But in moderation. It's good for accomplishing goals in minimal time. But, as demonstrated earlier, it gets you into trouble with other pokémon that weren't in your way at all... if you don't control it."

Aaron was suddenly nervous. This guy was a legend. He was both famous and infamous. He was known for stealing the time gears, but not a lot of pokémon knew that it was to fix a broken future. But he was reported to work alone due to his speed and strength… Until Team Firestorm came along and the two leaders helped him complete his 'mission'. He'd read up on them after the fact. They were really good people, constantly hunting outlaws every day. They'd gained such a reputation over the past year and a half that there probably wasn't a single experienced outlaw that didn't know who they were. For a while he had considered joining them. He figured it'd be good for getting leads on the Mafia while completing missions. But he decided against it. He worked better alone, anyways.

"So…" Grovyle's voice pierced his thoughts, drawing him back to reality. "Who is Victor, exactly? I heard that he was the leader of the Mafia."

"You heard right. He's the head honcho of the biggest criminal organization on Immanis. But what's your beef with him?"

"Mordred killed some of my friend's teammates. Four of them, to be precise."

"Who's your friend?" Then he recalled the Swampert from earlier. _A Swampert… with a team... With Grovyle._ Don't tell me…!

"His name is Connor. Leader of Team Firestorm." Grovyle confirmed. Aaron clenched his fist as electricity crackled from his cheeks. _Stupid, stupid, stupid! I should've known!_

Grovyle smirked and stood up as the vines forming the reclining chair retreated into the ground. "Well, this has been fun. But I've got to get back-"

"Wait." Aaron held his hand out in front of him, making Grovyle pause.

Aaron bit his lip slightly and shook his head. "N-never mind. Forget it." _What're you doing? Just let him go! They'll leave me alone if I don't bother them._

"You know…" Grovyle turned slowly towards him. "Their team doesn't have an electric type, and we could use your skills during the fight."

"Fight?"

"Yes. We plan to bring the fight to them once we're stronger. It shouldn't be but a couple weeks."

Aaron bit back a laugh. _These guys really think they can take them on? They're just a bunch of kids!_

"And how old are you, exactly?" A new voice resonated from his right, and he nearly shot a thunderbolt. A Ralts levitated a couple inches off of the ground, like a ghost. Grovyle seemed to know her, which made him less prone to shooting again, but Aaron could feel the power coming off of her skin. Her aura was more powerful than anyone he had ever met.

"I'm twenty… In my species' years."

Her mouth downturned with disgust. "Let's go, Grovyle. We don't need his help."

"Wait a second," he exclaimed. "You can't just show up, ask how old I am, then leave like I'm nothing!"

"That's exactly what I'm doing. Are you gonna try and stop me?"

"Well… No, but-"

"If you refuse to fight, then you have no business on our team."

 _Wait… she's a part of Team Firestorm?_

She nodded slowly, and a small smile formed underneath her green hair/helmet thing, which was covering her eyes. "Fight me, if you want to join us."

He shook his head. "Listen, I think you're mistaken. I don't want to be on any team. I work alone."

"Dawn, chill out. That's my call." Connor, the Swampert from earlier, dropped to the ground from out of nowhere, a purple glow fading around his head fins. "And besides… he might be telling the truth about working alone. He did own that Scrafty earlier, and got Grovyle really good with a thunderbolt."

"That was after I knocked the Shiftry out," Grovyle added.

"No. I can feel his desires. He wants to join our team, but he wants to be able to act on his own at the same time." The Ralts spoke as if he weren't there, which made him mad.

"If he's on our team, he needs to abide by our rules. No acting out by himself unless we say he can." Connor replied.

"Then it's out of the question," Aaron said. "I don't take orders very well. Especially not from exploration teams."

Connor nodded. "Alright. Good luck, then." He began walking away. "Let's go guys."

The Ralts grabbed hold of their hands, and they all vanished in the blink of an eye.

He let out the breath he had been holding and shook with rage. _I don't want to be a part of their team anyways._ He scowled and held his hand out in front of him. _They'd just reject me if they knew what I could do… It's only a matter of time._

Slowly, he focused his energy into his hand, and a small, electric-blue aura sphere levitated in front of him, illuminating the darkening forest. _My electric aura… What makes me so different?_

 **-Alice-**

"You guys were gone for a while," Mirage said. "Did something happen?"

Grovyle shook his head slightly. "Nothing we couldn't handle." Alice sensed some unease coming from him, but his emotional mask was almost too good. His expression betrayed nothing. When he walked past, she noticed some holes in his leaf-hair, several dozen, the largest ones no bigger than a centimeter. "What happened to your hair?"

"I got hit with a thunderbolt. No big deal." Galvantula tilted his head with disbelief. "You? Hit with a thunderbolt? Who managed to do that? I know I could never dream of hitting you with a move like that!"

Connor intervened. "It was a Helioptile. It caught us by surprise. It was a group of the Mafia."

At the mention of that, Atlas perked up. "What did you do to them?"

"First we beat the crap out of them. Then we sent them to Magnezone's containment facility." He replied with a slight smile.

Jade sighed, and Atlas stood up from his resting position. "Why didn't you bring them back here? We could have had Roy interrogate them for information!"

"The Scolipede they interrogated gave up every bit of information he knew without a fight. They couldn't help us any more even if they wanted to." Dawn said.  
"And what did you find out?" he questioned.

"That their base of operations is just southeast of Mt. Travail," Grovyle replied. "It's not even two days' walk from here."

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's bring the fight to them while they least expect it!"

"No." They all turned to Jade, and her lip quivered, but her eyes remained as strong and intimidating as ever. Alice could feel her rage and anguish. During these past two days, she had come to have a newfound respect this ice type. Even though she seemed heartless, she truly cared about each and every member of this team. And her emotions… were a maelstrom of sadness, despair, anguish and rage. She had only felt pure happiness emanate from Jade once, and that was when they were talking about Nocturne after she blew up a mountain because she was mad about liking him.

"...We can't fight them, Atlas. Not head on."

He clenched his fists and turned to her. "Why not? We're healed now, and we have Vulcan on our side!"

"We also have four team members dead! Vincent, Rose, Magnus and Nocturne! They are gone! They each played a vital role in our team, and I will not let their sacrifices be in vain by condoning a suicidal mission!"

"Seriously? It's not suicidal! And even if it were, what are we supposed to do? Sit back and wait for them to find us? How is that honoring _anyone's_ sacrifices? If we don't take them down, then they'll all have died for nothing! Nocturne, Vincent, Magnus and Rose!"

Alice could feel Jade's anger about to explode, so she calmly put her hand on Atlas' lower forearm. "Atlas… We will figure this out, one way or another… But I have to side with Jade on this one. She has a valid point. The Mafia is even stronger at their base. And the forces we fought at that village… That was nothing. Vincent told me all about it before he..." she teared up, and Atlas grimaced and embraced her gently. "I get it… I'm sorry… But I just… I'm sick of waiting around and being a coward. We have to stand up to them."

"I understand, I really do. They were all our friends. But right now, staying alive is what's important. Even if that means being a coward for a little while."

"Cowardice isn't how I do things, Alice."

"I know… But sometimes change is necessary… Like right now… I need you here, with me…"

She felt his pulse accelerate and his muscles contract for a moment as he took a deep breath. He picked her up with his lower arms and held her at eye level. "I promise… I won't let anything happen to you… as long as I live, I promise..."

"Atlas..." A smile forced itself onto her face as she leaned forward, closed her eyes and kissed him. For that moment, time seemed to stop. Nothing else mattered except him. She felt happiness radiate off of his skin as he embraced her gently with his upper arms while she stood on his lower hands to reach his head.

"I love you," he murmured while she rested her head on his shoulders.

"I love you too…" she replied without hesitation. That was their first official kiss, as much as she hated to admit it. None of the other members knew that as far as she knew. They had spent so much time alone together before this whole Mafia group came along, she figured that the team thought they were practically engaged. But he really liked to take these sort of things slow. And she didn't mind that. He wasn't the romantic type to begin with; His way of showing affection was teaching her how to fight. He even taught her how to use the different elemental punches, which wasn't all bad. But occasionally he would bring her a Gracidea flower from Sky Peak on a good day. His leg strength was so immense that he could scale the mountain in a matter of hours by leaping from cliff to cliff and climbing with his hands when there were no footholds. **(AN: Machamp are pure muscles. Legs too.)**

Amber came from the back of the group and spoke up, drawing her thoughts back to reality. "I need your attention, Team Firestorm. Dusk is approaching. Tyranitar, Celebi, Grovyle and Galvantula, will be in charge of temporary forest shelter. Please stand back."

They all nodded and got to work. At first, Alice was skeptical as to how effectively those three could make a shelter big enough for twenty some-odd pokémon. But boy, was she surprised. Tyranitar clenched his fist and slammed his foot into the ground, and four columns of stone four feet around shot up from the ground in front of them, about thirty feet from each other in a square. He waved his hand and the stone shifted and grew to form low arches connecting the fifteen-foot pillars. Grovyle leapt onto one of the pillars and tossed several dozen seeds into the soil around the columns of stone, and the soil erupted into a mass of branches and vines that intertwined and weaved themselves together, forming a solid wall in a matter of moments with a central exit covered by leafy tendrils. Galvantula was forming some sort of silk in between his pincer things near his mouth, but not really doing much else. The trees in the forest seemed to bend to Celebi's will, which was incredible to watch. With a wave of her arm, the trees closest to the stone and wood hut leaned closer and grew several more thick branches to support the arches of rock, almost like the forest was coming alive to help them.

Tyranitar used bulldoze in the center of the almost complete building, which surprised Alice at first. The ground around them shook and became uneven, and the shelter sunk into the ground about eight feet. He fired a dragon pulse through the dirt to form a perfectly smooth ramp leading to the now dugout room, like a fallout shelter. Celebi used Ancient power to move pebbles and larger stones together to form beds for everyone, and Grovyle grew grass along the beds to hold them together and provide cushioning, just like at the mountain hideout.

Galvantula smirked and held up a ball of string that was three feet in diameter. "Ha! That's the fastest I've done it yet!"

Mirage fluttered up to him with curiosity. "What's so special about it?"

"Check it," he replied as he unfurled the massive web. "Camouflage webbing." He fired three string shots around the forest seemingly at random, until they caught on trees and the webbing sailed through the air, draping over the shelter. Before her eyes, the hut vanished like an illusion, to the point that she could only see the entrance. Her eyes shot open at that amazing feat, and she turned to the yellow arthropod. "How did you do that?!"

"Camouflage, baby. It's a special webbing that bends light around whatever it's draped over!" Kinda like Latias and Latios!"

"Does it work on pokémon?"

He laughed. "You kiddin'? Of course it does! And it stops those pesky psychics from sensing you!"

"Oh." She couldn't help but smile, and Galvantula's eyebrows shot up. "...I _think_ I know what you're thinking… And it's a terrible idea."

* * *

Alright guys! Chapter 15! More stuff is heating up! Alice has an idea, Aaron noped out of joining the team, they made another shelter in the forest, Dawn was being a little punk to Aaron, so much stuff! Goodness gracious! Anywho, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Go ahead and leave any questions, comments, concerns and theories in the form of a Review or PM! It is much appreciated!

Oh, and late happy Valentine's day, guys! I hope you guys had lots of chocolates and spent quality time with your bae, whether it is a girl, a guy, a pizza, a book, whatever! Rock whatever relationship you're in!

And Victor Vs. Amber battle is up on Firestorm Battle Royale. Much Love!

-PL


	16. Flawed, Yet Necessary

**-Chapter XVI: Flawed, Yet Necessary-**

 **-Alice-**

"You _do_ realize that this is a stupid idea, right?" Connor said. "If we got caught, it'd be over for us."

"But we won't get caught! I just need to get in there using some of Galvantula's camouflage webbing, do some scouting, get out! It's no big deal! And even if I do get caught, we've got Tyranitar!" Alice said. After seeing how powerful its cloaking abilities were, she had confidence that using the webbing to sneak in would work.

They all turned to the stone colossus looking over their shoulders at the map of Immanis, and he blinked rapidly. "Don't drag me into this. How do you think I can help?"

She winked at him, causing him to blush in spite of himself. "Easy! If I happened to get caught and I'm not able to sweet talk my way out of it, I can just use baton pass to swap our positions, catching them off guard while you use your mega form to obliterate them!"

Grovyle's eyes widened slightly, and Briar spoke up. "This is assuming that they don't have a countermeasure for camouflage, which is a high probability. Aside from that, what if you cannot switch with him? What then?"

She shrugged slightly. "I dunno… I literally thought of it two minutes ago…"

"Okay, Alice, your idea is a good one. But if we're talking scouting… I vote that Tyranitar goes in to begin with. He is an intimidating pokémon, and they don't know that he's with us," Connor said. "He can sign up or whatever, get in that place, do some inspecting of the base, then come back to us! And he doesn't even need to sneak around with camo webbing!"

"Or…" Tyranitar said, "We could leave me out of this."

Vulcan tilted his head and took a step towards the towering stone pokémon. "Why? You're like the strongest one here!"

Tyranitar rubbed the back of his head and smiled nervously. "I don't like confrontation."

"Don't tell me," Roy jested, "Are you scared?"

"Of course not." He frowned slightly. "I avoid fighting not because I'm afraid of the threat, but because I know what I'm capable of doing to that threat. I'm not one to brag, but even Atlas doesn't scare me."

"What?" Atlas stood up, a passionate fire lighting in his eyes. "You want to run that by me again?"

"I'm saying that you don't pose a threat to me." Tyranitar leaned back casually, resting his head on the dirt wall of the hut.

Atlas' fists began glowing and he stepped closer to the colossus, a challenging smile forming on his face. "You want to test your theory? Let's go right now!" Alice saw where this was going, and she didn't like it. Atlas loved threats like that. He was always fighting to be the toughest one.

Tyranitar rolled his eyes slightly, but couldn't stop a slight smile. "Save your energy, Atlas.

"Atlas, wait-" Before she could stop him, he swung with a full-force dynamic punch, but faster than any of them could see, Tyranitar stood up, dodged the swing, spun on a dime and used iron tail to pin Atlas to the wall, all in one motion. Alice's jaw dropped at the sheer speed that this Tyranitar had.

Atlas used his upper arms to push off of the dirt walls while his lower arms grabbed Tyranitar's tail, but before anything else could happen, Tyranitar used thunder wave to end the little skirmish. His eyes flashed blue and Atlas collapsed to the ground, shuddering.

She ran over to him and grabbed his face, glaring at him after using heal bell to stop the shaking. "What in the world were you thinking?! How does fighting him help any of us?!"

He gently picked her up with his lower arms and stood up with a slight smile, still facing the colossal rock-type. "Hmph. You're fast, Tyranitar."

"Thanks."

Galvantula stepped between them after Atlas tensed up again. "Okay, not that I'm against letting you two duke it out, but we're supposed to be saving our energy for the other fights."

Atlas grunted in disapproval. "You guys are all supposed to be super powerful and are able to fight armies, but you can't even kill a few evil pokémon that are hunting us. What fights are we even saving our energy for?"

"The forces that allow us to be here forbid-" Grovyle began before being cut off.

"You mean Dialga?" Connor questioned. "He let you guys come back here? Because Celebi needs permission from him now that he's all not crazy, right?"

The grass-type clenched his fists slightly, but nodded. "Yes. Under the oath that we would not kill any pokémon from this time."

"Okay, I see several loopholes in that rule, first of all." Galvantula said. "I think I already told you guys, but let me tell you again. One loophole is that we can beat the snot out of everyone in our path, even knock 'em unconscious. That's not a problem. Another loophole is that we simply get Celebi over here to put them in an entirely different temporal pocket, then we kill them in there, since they're technically not in this timeline!"

"Can she do that?" Alice asked.

"Of course she-ow!" Celebi slapped the back of his head and glared at him. "I can do no such thing! Don't go lying to them! Honestly, I don't see why..."

Whatever she was about to say, she stopped herself. Alice tried to sense any signs of unusual emotion coming from her, but her emotional mask was almost as perfect as Grovyle's.

He sighed and looked at the time-walking pokémon levitating above him. "You can't? I could've sworn… Welp, whatever. Still got one loophole at least."

"So we send Tyranitar into the base," Dusknoir pondered, "Then what? What is the plan from there? Simply a scouting mission?"

"Yes," Briar said. "Although we will need more than just one pokémon's word to determine if there truly is a-"

"It's there."

They all turned to Dawn, and she spoke up again. "I read the Scolipede's mind and saw the images in his head. It's there. I know it."

"How secure is the base?" Basileus questioned. "Surely they have some sort of security measures to prevent unauthorized access?"

"It's surprisingly low…. From what I saw. They only have a couple watchtowers manned by some Helioptile. If somebody recognizes you as a spy or whatever, then they'll just gang up on you and either kill you or torture you. That's security enough, I guess." She shut her eyes even tighter, as if concentrating, then perked up. "I sense a large gathering of pokémon in the area described. There is definitely something there."

"Okay, if we're doing a recon mission, I wish to attend. For added security measures, of course. Safety in numbers, after all!" Roy beamed.

"How do you plan on sneaking in? They'll recognize you straight away," Briar said. "I fear that the only reason you weren't killed by those mysterious attackers is because they weren't sure if was you. After all, Dusknoir is not on any records that are affiliated with your team, and as such didn't kill you for fear that you weren't the one they were after. But now, they have likely put a bounty on Dusknoir, Grovyle and Dawn, since they participated in your rescue, and will know to attack you on sight."

Roy's face morphed into an unamused glare. "Okay… That sounds fun and all, but I don't actually plan on attending the event physically. I can hide in Tyranitar's shadow, and only reveal myself if the need arises."

Tyranitar nodded in agreement. "I'll take that offer. Better to have a backup just in case."

"I can help from here," Dawn added. "I can communicate with Roy using my telepathy. If anything happens, we'll know."

Grovyle grunted in approval. "You're alright, Dawn." He turned to Tyranitar, and his expression became even more serious. "Remember, you can't use earthquake or outrage. And you can't kill _anyone_. Not even indirectly."

Tyranitar groaned. "That's not my style of fighting, Grovyle! You know that!"

"I _do_ know. But you have to abide by the rules for now. But... perhaps Celebi could reason with him, and convince him to alter that restriction. Who's to say? Just don't forget that we are here to _assist_ Team Firestorm. Not fight their battles for them. If things get bad, retreat. Don't try to be the hero. Alright?"  
Seeing the four foot tall, slender grass-type command this eight foot tall, hulking rock-type was a strange enough sight. She found it kind of amusing, yet incredible at the same time. That this pokémon, that could probably beat all of them, would submit to any authority.

Tyranitar shrugged. "No promises."

Grovyle clenched his fists and shook his head. "I can't permit you to go unless you can look me in the eyes and tell me that you won't do anything brash."

Tyranitar stared him down, but Grovyle's unwavering gaze eventually won, and Tyranitar took a deep breath. "I won't do anything stupid."

Grovyle kept staring at him, but after a moment, nodded slightly. "Fine. Now, before we go and make any hasty decisions, we need a plan."

"Man, screw planning! If things go south, which they probably will, then we're gonna have to rely on cold, hard instincts!" Galvantula was suddenly very aggressive in his manner of speech, which caught Alice off guard. His emotional waves hadn't changed intensity at all, so there was literally no warning.

Grovyle, apparently, had experienced this yellow bug's randomness before. He just put his head in his hand and groaned. "Galvantula, we have to plan for the worst-case scenario. For example, let's assume that they are able to subdue him. What will we do? We can't fight them head on at the moment, and there is no telling what kind of enemies they have among their ranks, and as such, we must be prepared to act if anything were to happen."

"Okay… Fine. Let's hear a plan. Briar, you got the deets?"

"The what?"

Galvantula replied with an almost unnoticeable annoyance. "Details. Do you have any details on what we're up against? I mean, we kind of read up on these guys before we came here, but-" Briar cleared her throat, stopping him in his tracks. "We have researched extensively about them, but there are no records of any such group existing in any criminal or exploration database at any time surrounding this century."

"Wait, no records at all?" Connor asked. "What does that mean?"

"It means that this group doesn't exist in your timeline. There are no records of anything."

"So…" Roy began, "Do you mind explaining that in a way that makes sense to us normal pokémon who don't have time-travelling friends that take them on walks through time when they're bored?"

"...I don't know how to explain it… This group, by all means, shouldn't exist. We are tied directly to your timeline on the temporal tree, and have heard nothing of them before Amber told us. Allow me to explain…" She turned to the center of the chamber, and a medium-sized oak tree grew from the ground, splitting into three separate trunks that each branched off on their own, forming mini-trees along each stump. She marked the bottom of the tree with some sort of bioluminescent moss, where all three trunks connected. "This is the origin of creation. When all three worlds, Varius-Our world, Concordia-where humans and pokémon live in harmony, and Terra-the world without pokémon, were all one. Time… is like a tree. I know that many other beings compare it to a river that twists and becomes crooked when time travel occurs, but that is inaccurate. Time is a solid construct that oversees all things, and does not flow wildly if anyone interferes. It simply creates a new branch of reality. If one branch dies, another grows in its place. Dialga's first heartbeat marked the beginning of time itself, which is marked at the ground. As you go further up the tree, it splits into the three worlds. Each world has their own multiple timelines. Team Firestorm, your reality is right where this world begins to branch off and create multiple limbs, or 'realities', per se. One such reality was the future of darkness where Grovyle was born. When we changed that branch of time, we were supposed to be eradicated from existence, but we weren't. Arceus himself bestowed a gift upon us. A gift for a new life. In this new life, we all lived happily for many years, enjoying the new sunlight, the wind, the blue skies… Everything that we had missed for over four hundred years."

"Did you say four hundred?" Mirage asked. "That's a lot… You guys look _good_ for some four hundred year-old grass-types."

Briar smiled gently and continued her explanation. "Thank you. Time wasn't a factor that contributed to our aging. Now, where does this mafia group come into play? Connor, when you travelled back in time with Grovyle, you created team Firestorm alongside Vulcan the Charmander. His father possessed the key to the hidden land, but was mysteriously killed. It is unknown by us who did such a thing, but we presume that the Mafia did it, after gathering resources in the future. With his dying breath, he bestowed it upon Team Core. They gave it to Vulcan when he had come of age. In other words, fourteen, in Charmander's aging years. Together, your leaders stopped the destruction of time, and as such, Connor, Grovyle, and all of us were eradicated from time as we know it. Completely erased from existence. But Dialga brought your leader back after six months of silence, and your team continued to grow. We read about your team in the future… You were the most renowned exploration team in Immanis. For some reason unbeknownst to us, your team suddenly disappeared. It vanished without a trace. No police records, no outlaw records, no bodies found. Nothing. Upon coming to this timeline, I had no idea what to expect. Amber explained that a vicious group led by a Bisharp named Mordred had begun killing your team. Upon researching further, we still don't know if they do, in fact, annihilate you. But we are here to help prevent your disappearance."

"Okay… So… what you're saying is… in your timeline, we disappear without a trace? How do we do that? I mean, we're kind of a big deal. I don't mean to brag or anything, but it's a fact." Roy said jokingly.

Alice was suddenly struck with an amazing idea. "I'll go with Tyranitar."

Everyone stopped their conversation and turned to her. No turning back now. She took a deep breath and began explaining her plan. "Okay… Sorry, I was just thinking about the plan. If I go with him pretending to be a prisoner, like, let's say he carries me in, I pretend to be unconscious. If things get dicey, I'll use baton pass out of nowhere and one of you guys busts in. You attack Tyranitar, but only a little bit. Tyranitar, you act super surprised and pretend to be overwhelmed. That'll protect your association with us, and give us a little bit to escape. Dawn, can you teleport other pokémon that are far away?"

"It's difficult," she stated, "But not impossible. I'll need to conserve my strength for that. Usually the closer you are the easier it is. But why not take an escape orb?"

"Because they only work in Mystery Dungeons," Connor said. "They might be in a mystery dungeon, so we'll give Tyranitar a few orbs, but just in case, we need you to be able to get them out of there if things go south."

Tyranitar nodded slowly. "I like this whole plan."

"Yeah, Alice totally goes against the stereotype of dumb pretty girls! She's smart _and_ gorgeous!" Galvantula beamed.

"Uh… Thanks?" Alice didn't really know how to take that statement. Did he think that she was dumb beforehand?

Atlas glared at him, and Galvantula laughed. "Don't worry, muscles. I'm not gonna be mr. steal-your-girl. She's way too in love with you. Am I not allowed to give compliments to your teammates?"

Atlas seemed to think about it for a minute before nodding. "I guess you can… But that was kind of a weird thing to say."

"I know I'm weird."

"And Immature," Alice added.

"It's not being immature, it's called having fun. You guys should try it after we kick some bad guy butt. Come crash at our place and enjoy some drinks made by none other than the gorgeous Celebi! After all, Vulcan let us hide out in his MTV Crib that had an ocean view of the sunset and everything back when we first got here, it's only right we repay the favor by fixing the place once all this settles down!" He lowered his voice and leaned over to Alice, "And between you and me, Celebi makes way better drinks than Spinda _ever_ could… But he's _really_ good. ...Don't tell anyone I said that."

"I'll be... sure to note that."

"Okay, back to the plan," Grovyle drew everyone's attention back to him. "So Tyranitar takes Alice, she pretends to be unconscious or something. If Mordred is there, which I presume he is, he'll want her alive. He'll bet on us sending a rescue party to get her, then trap us. He'll probably bring her to either a stockade or a prison."

"What if he wants her killed right then and there?" Atlas asked. "Tyranitar can't fatally harm anyone, and Alice can only fight so many pokémon at once."

She winked at him and used a light attract. She didn't want to _force_ him to do anything, but she needed him to cooperate. "Don't worry about me, hon! I can take care of myself!"

She felt his anxiety lower, and she silently thanked Arceus for giving her someone that could be calmed down easily. "Yeah, but still… What if that happens?"  
"Then I will be here to teleport them out," Dawn said.

"But why not send Vincent to..." Atlas stopped mid-sentence as tears welled in his eyes. Grief overtook him, and Alice couldn't help but tear up as well. The little Smeargle had been Atlas' best friend since he was a Machop, and for a moment, he had forgotten that Vincent wasn't here. He clenched his fists and looked at the ground. "...Never mind. S-Sorry."

She felt a wave of sadness wash over the group, replacing the hopefulness in their eyes and spirits. This was too much for her. But she had to stay strong. Jade could do it, and she had lost more than anyone else on the team. She sighed as she realized that she couldn't do anything about this. Almost everyone that she had practically grown up with as a Buneary and Lopunny were dead, and the ones remaining were being hunted by the very group that killed them.  
Nobody said anything for a long while, and after everyone was silent for their fallen teammates, Amber spoke up. "So when do you propose we execute this plan, Connor?"

"The sooner the better. It will give us more time to come up with a plan on how to attack them once we scout the place."

"...Very well. It's a bit lacking in details, but our knowledge is very limited, so it will have to do… Tyranitar. Alice. Are you ready to go?"

"What? Right now?"

"Yes. There is nothing else we can learn by lying in wait. We have no knowledge of this group, so we will have to learn while we're here." The Charizard replied.

Briar shook her head slightly, and Alice could feel a hint of worry coming from the Sceptile. "I don't find it wise to do this…"

"What would you suggest, then? Wait for them to find us?" As Amber's anger became more apparent, Alice became more and more fearful. Her power seemed to radiate more intensely, and for a moment, Alice wondered if Amber's emotions played a key factor in her power, similarly to Jade.

"...I am not saying that. I just… I am worried, that's all." Amber's scowl deepened, and she opened her mouth to reply, but was cut short by Galvantula.  
"Hey, chill, guys." he placed a hand on each of them. "We all know that Briar worries about every little thing that could go wrong. But what other choice do we have? You both have really good points, but Amber's right. We can't wait this one out. They have more resources and 'monpower."

Briar nodded. "That is precisely why I am reluctant to send Tyranitar and Alice out blindly into enemy territory. Tyranitar has the most raw power out of any of us, and Alice's ability to bend male pokémon to her will provides an incredible ability to work with. Risking either of them on random chance could put us in a position worse than when we began."

"Puh-lease! Tyranitar's the toughest one here! And he's the Alpha! Nothing these guys can throw at him will beat him!" Galvantula boasted.

"There are too many unknown variables. If we send them into enemy territory without knowing what kind of security measures are in place, the operation _will_ fail!"

"Or maybe it won't! Briar, you need to take some risks sometimes! I think they'll be fine!"

"I do not gamble with the lives of my teammates. The only reason that I am permitting this at all is because my opinion is vastly outweighed at the moment."

Alice took this time to read these guys and how they acted. Briar was a very smart pokémon. She knew that from when she's a Grovyle in this timeline, in the past… Boy, that's confusing. But she relies too much on logic and formulating plans to accommodate for every scenario. She didn't like to take any risks, which was both good and bad. No risks meant no loss. But no risk in this scenario meant delaying the inevitable, and no chance of victory. And she didn't like being hunted like this.

Galvantula… Oh, man… She had no clue about him. One minute he's here, the next minute he's there. He was very child-like in many ways, such as his positivity and joking. He was fairly relaxed and questioning, and he obviously didn't follow most rules set in place. He is random and a very quick thinker, which most pokémon don't anticipate. He was best friends with Tyranitar, based on his high regard for the rock-type's strength.

Grovyle… She had never personally met him before now, but Atlas had told her all about his mission, about how Connor had disappeared for six months or something, and how he was from the future. It was kind of a weird thing to wrap her mind around. Grovyle seemed to be a lot like Connor. Ruthless when facing an enemy, and willing to die for his friends. He and Celebi were obviously in a relationship, and it was difficult to tell what had happened with Dusknoir and Grovyle. Atlas had said that Dusknoir was some evil bounty hunter from the future sent to kill Connor and Grovyle, but if that were the case, why would Grovyle, Tyranitar, or any of them trust him? Ghost-types didn't operate on the same emotional spectrum that other pokémon did, which meant that he was difficult to read. Since he didn't necessarily have a face aside from his stomach, it was difficult to tell what he was thinking just by looking at him.

"-like a plan. Alice?"

"Huh?" She didn't hear any of the conversation, and Connor's voice shook her from her thoughts.

"Did you not get any of that?"

"No… Sorry."

Connor sighed and said, "We're going with your second plan. The one where he brings you in to look more believable. Roy will be hiding in Tyranitar's shadow, as a surprise attacker if things go bad. And second, Mordred will be betting on us sending a rescue operation to come get you. And that's exactly what we're going to do."

"Won't that be doing exactly what he wants? You'll all be killed!"

"Not necessarily." Dawn spoke up. "They won't expect such a direct attack. He'll expect us to come around or try and sneak in, probably by using Jade or Roy. They can melt into shadows, so it makes the most sense. If we attack directly, like, crash through the gate and Connor uses surf or something, we should be able to get you guys out no problem."

"Alright, so who's going to come rescue us if things go south?"

"...We were thinking about sending Connor and Mirage. What do you think about that-"

"It's good! I mean… Yeah. That's good. We've got Connor and Mirage… Yeah." _As long as Atlas and Jade don't go, we're fine. I don't know if Jade would keep her composure and common sense about her. And Atlas will die trying to protect only me. Which is good… But not what we want for a rescue._

"Very well." Briar stood up, dwarfing everybody else except Tyranitar and Basileus. "Before we begin, Alice… May I have a word with you in private?"

She felt everyone's confusion around her, even the rest of the Insurgo. This must be something important if Briar hadn't told anyone else. "Sure."

She followed the Sceptile out of the chamber, ignoring everyone's murmuring behind them.

 **-Connor-**

"...Okay… Anyone else know what Briar's telling her?" Galvantula looked really confused. Same with everyone else. Connor realized that she must have been keeping this to herself. _But what does Briar need Alice for that she can't tell us? Or even the rest of the Insurgo?_

"Basileus? G? Either of you know what's going on?"

They both crossed their arms in thought, and Basileus shook his head. "I do not. But I trust her judgement. As long as she says we can go on with the plan, that's what we'll do."

Galvantula shrugged and crawled over to his bed. "Well… Imma just take a nap then. This is too stressful for me."

Jade scoffed at him, and he opened two of his six eyes. "What, a guy can't take a nap nowadays?"

Jade tilted her head. "Um… They can, but…"

"I'm just messing with you! Goodness! You all make it out alive, so chill!" he laid his head down, then quickly said, "No pun intended."

Briar and Alice strode back in, side by side. Atlas looked at Alice, and they seemed to communicate through their eyes, not even muttering a word to each other.

"Dawn, prepare to teleport them."

Roy nodded slowly and she pulled the ghost-type into a hug before letting go and levitating over to them. Connor found himself smiling at that sight. That a psychic took a liking to a ghost-type. Almost as cool as an Ice type and a grass-type. But Dawn stood up and looked as serious as ever. "Let's get started."

 **-Alice-**

Tyranitar lumbered closer to her, and Dawn held her arm out in front of her. "Here we go, guys… I'll keep in touch, alright? Don't die on me."

Alice smiled slightly and nodded. "You got it." She looked straight at Atlas and tears formed in her eyes for a brief moment. _I'll come back…. I promise._

"Now just because you have a team to come get you doesn't mean you can be reckless. You are to act as if you are on your own." Briar stared into her eyes relentlessly until she agreed. Briar's words echoed in her mind. _There is a very real possibility that you won't come back. Are you willing to sacrifice everything?_

"Yes." She whispered to herself.

Dawn closed her fist and her eyelids began glowing, and everything around her turned white and gold as she was whisked away alongside the stone colossus.

* * *

 **D'awww snap! Looks like they got a plan! It's a bit lacking on details, as Amber said, but it's not like they can learn any more by lying in wait! And what did you guys think of Briar's explanation of Time? Pretty good? Confusing? Feel free to let me know! As always, I hope that you guys enjoyed this chapter! It is one of the more lengthy ones, but feel free to leave any questions, comments, concerns or theories about what might happen in the form of a Review or PM! Much Love!**

 **-PL**


	17. Alice in Underland

**-Chapter XVII: Alice in Underland-**

 **-Connor-**

"Okay Briar, what did you tell her?" Connor questioned. He had taken her outside to avoid calling her out, even though he really wanted to.

"It does not concern you at the moment."

Now that set him off. "Uh, yes it does! She is my teammate! And my friend! What was so important that you couldn't tell anyone? Not even your mate or your son?"

Her eye twitched, but she replied in an even tone, "I didn't find it necessary to inform the others. What I needed to tell her was our business."

"Do you think Alice, Tyranitar and Roy will find out anything useful by doing this?"

"...I don't know. It's a coin toss, really. We're in the blind about what happened in this time period."

"So we just sent them on a… Wait a second, what do you mean, _we_?"

She shrugged. "Celebi and Basileus keep us informed. They don't know what happened here, so neither do we."

Connor huffed. "Whatever." He went back into the base and strode straight over to Dawn.

"What's taking so long?" Connor asked. He really didn't want to send Alice out there by herself with that Tyranitar. Sure, he was one of his friends in the future where he came from, but he didn't know the guy. He didn't know how he acted under pressure, whether or not he would give in if he got caught, since he couldn't really fight due to his restrictions… he didn't know.

"I'm trying to focus!" Dawn gritted her teeth and held her hands to the sides of her head.

"Sorry… Does teleporting always take this long?"

"Of course not!" she snapped back. "It only takes this long when I can't focus!"

"...What happens when-"

"Shut it!"

"Okay!" He paced back and forth for what felt like way too long before Dawn took a deep breath and sat on the ground. "There. They made it."

He sighed with relief and nearly collapsed to the floor. This stress was killing him. He didn't think that all of this would happen. They were heroes! They saved the world from darkness twice! And one time was against the lord of time itself! And now they're hiding from a bunch of criminals?

"Good… Dawn, can you establish contact with them?"

"...I don't think I can with Tyranitar… He's a dark-type. But I can with Alice."

"And me, of course!" Roy's voice cut through the air, making Connor flinch. "What the-?! I thought you were going with them!"

"Ah, but I am! I was just waiting until Dawn finished teleporting them before I shadow-hopped over there."

"Get over there! Now! Come on! This is serious, Roy!"

"I know, I know… Sheesh." He melted into shadows, and just before he vanished, he said, "I'll be right back."

Dawn shook her head and smiled slightly.

"What?"

"Nothing. ...Why's he so careless all the time?"

"It's just... how he is. He thinks that he 'died' or something. Maybe he thinks that this is his second life to do whatever he wants. I dunno."

He saw Dusknoir's eye widen out of the corner of his eye, but when he looked over, the big ghost was lying on the nearest stone and grass bed, looking as disinterested as ever. Connor's mental guard went up, but Dawn's gentle voice spoke just loud enough for him to hear. " _...He's so different… Yet just like him."_

"Who?" Connor realized as soon as he said it that Dawn hadn't spoken out loud.

Dawn yelped slightly and stood straight up. Briar, Celebi and Amber immediately rushed to her aid. "Are you alright?"

"What happened?"

She pushed them away gently. "I'm fine, really… I just popped my arm and it hurt a little bit more than I expected."

Briar and Celebi nodded slowly, but Amber didn't look convinced. Connor could've sworn that Dawn was blushing, but he wasn't sure. She pointed at Amber and said, "I need to focus. This stuff's hard to pull off, even for me."

The charcoal-black Charizard nodded and backed away, and Celebi pressed further. "I can use heal bell if you want-"

"I said I'm fine. Thanks, Celebi… But I'm good." Okay, Dawn was _definitely_ blushing. But she was right. She needed to focus. He'd ask her about it later.

She took a deep breath and was surrounded by a golden aura. She crossed her legs and floated three feet off of the ground. He heard a faint beeping noise in the back of his head for a moment, then Dawn smiled. "I've got them." Her facial features tightened, then she sunk to the ground. "Roy's with them. He scared Alice really bad, but she says she wasn't scared. Roy and Tyranitar are both calling her bluff though." She giggled for a brief moment before getting serious again. "Alice says that this place is a lot bigger than we thought. Plus it looks like there are watchtowers manned by… Watchog. Of course… With Helioptile along the top wall And two Golurk sentries outside the main entrance."

"This'll be a lot harder than we thought…" Connor muttered. Then he spoke up to Dawn. "Ask Alice what the base _looks_ like. Is it a big stone fortress, a village, a mountain-fort, what?"

"...She says it's like a mixture of a Mountain fort and a village. It's built into the mountain, but at the same time it looks like the entire mountain was made to be a base."

"Tyranitar's great at breaking mountains," Mirage said. "Maybe he could just-"

"He cannot." Celebi cut her off. "...For now, he cannot do anything that would directly result in the death of any pokémon."

"Welp, this sucks." Galvantula rolled his eyes and laid back down.

Then, out of nowhere, Connor's vision faded in and out, and a wave of nausea washed over him. He nearly fell over as a white flash of light cut through the darkness.

 _Ugh... What? A Dimensional Scream? I haven't had a vision in I don't even know how long… What did I touch?_

It was a silent vision, only showing Alice and Tyranitar. Tyranitar was being held against the wall by two pokémon that were almost just as big as him, and Alice was in the middle of a group of pokémon that appeared to be yelling at her. Her fists were blazing like Vulcan's, and she seemed to be talking to an Ariados. Then the vision became blurry, fading in and out of focus. He concentrated on it, trying to bring it back. _No! I have to know what happens!_ When it came back into focus, a Noivern was standing on top of Alice, holding her to the ground with its talons. Then a blast of blue energy was launched from its mouth, blasting apart the Dimensional Scream's vision. His eyes snapped open in reality, and he shouted, "Dawn! Call them back, now!"

She hastily clasped her hands together and began chanting, but the glow in her head fin faded, and she fell to the ground with a grunt of pain. "I can't… I don't have the strength."

"Then tell Roy to shadow-hop them back! If they're spotted, Alice is dead!"

"What?" Atlas moved closer. "Why? What did you see?"

"I… I just know, alright?"

Dawn's eyes flashed white before she nodded quickly. "Alright."

After not even five seconds, she gasped and nearly flew upwards. "They've been spotted… There's nothing we can do now."

"We have to go get them! We can't-"

"Connor… It would take at least an hour for any of us to get there. And without Roy to shadow-travel…"

"Actually…" Dusknoir floated upwards, "I would be more than glad to be of assistance."

"No!" Dawn shouted before Connor had the chance to. "You can't! You have to stay here!"

"What…? How can you be sure?"

"If you go, they have pokémon that were able to capture you and Roy. And Roy can't phase into the ground here, so there's no shadow-travelling back, and we can't lose you on a rescue mission!"

The heavyset ghost floated upwards, but Dawn shook her head slowly. "Don't… I can probably teleport Connor and Mirage in a few minutes, if I use wish. But I'd have to cut off all communications to conserve my strength."

"Tell them to stall until we can get there!"

 **-Tyranitar-**

"Watch it, will you?" Alice fidgeted in his arms, making him flail slightly, almost dropping her in the process. They had just emerged from the woods and into the open, maybe thirty feet from the main entrance.

"Hey, you're supposed to be the prisoner. If you blow our cover, I swear..."

"That doesn't mean I…"

 _Tyranitar! Alice! Come in!_

Alice nodded slowly, and Dawn's voice resonated in his head. _The plan is a bust! Retreat! Roy, use shadow-travel to bring them back!_

"Will do," Roy's voice replied.

Tyranitar felt his limbs sink into darkness, but then he regained his structure.

"Blast! They cast a one-way spectral incantation!" Roy cursed as purple electricity coursed across his skin.

"Who goes there?!" Three helioptiles emitted light directly on him, nearly blinding him.

He panicked for a moment. Retreat? He couldn't run now. But what could he say? _Can't say Tyranitar… That's too obvious. What's another name…?_

"...Barrage!"

"And who are you, _Barrage_?" It was a somewhat high-pitched voice. It came from up above, but he couldn't look directly at the blinding helioptiles. "And who do you have in your arms?"

"I've captured Alice from Team Firestorm. She was scouting our base from the forest."

The voice laughed. "Oh, really? Alice from Team Firestorm? Alone? That's awfully convenient."

The light died down, and before he could do anything, the two Golurk guarding the entrance had him pinned to the ground, one on each of his arms and legs. Alice was grabbed by a Mightyena and brought back to the wall.

The giant gates opened up almost silently, then began closing once the Mightyena had dragged her inside.

The high-pitched voice seemed to come from all around him this time. "Thank you for your contribution, _Barrage_. I will let Master Mordred know of your deeds."

"What are you going to say to him? I'm the only one that's ever successfully captured a member alive besides Mordred himself! You could do me a favor and let me in, at least!"

"A Tyranitar? In a mountain base? Ha! You must be joking!"

 _Tyranitar, stall until we can get to you!_ Dawn's voice entered his head, and he nearly lost it.

Roy's voice filled his thoughts in response. _Not gonna be easy! These guys are already really suspicious!_

 _Do it! And keep Alice with you no matter what! I'm cutting off communications, and I will teleport you out of there in three minutes! Good luck!_

"No!"

The two Golurk holding him down slackened their grips at his shout, and he knocked them both off of their feet with one sweep of his tail. He knocked them both back with a dark pulse, then charged up a hyper beam, his mouth glowing red. "You'd better let me in, otherwise this base is going to be nothing but a pile of rubble!"

"...Hmph. So be it! Open the gates!"

The two big stone doors opened up again, and he cancelled the hyper beam attack. He walked forward at a fast enough pace as to hurry along, but not so fast that he drew and unnecessary attention to himself.

The gates closed behind him, and boy, what he saw was really impressive. Building after building was carved into the mountain, with countless dark-types and others in the mix, like Salamence, Staraptor, Pidgeot... It was way more complex than the Insurgo cavern. Although it wasn't quite as big and didn't have as many pokémon in it. He instantly felt bad for wanting to destroy the place a second ago. Then, out of nowhere, he was knocked flat on his stomach. He rolled over to see a Scrafty kneeling on his chest. "What do we have here?"

It was the same high-pitched voice from outside. "A Tyranitar named Barrage? Did master Mordred transfer you here?"

 _Say Victor sent you, or something._ Roy muttered.

"...No. I was in the area, searching for Team Firestorm on master Victor's orders, and I found her spying on this base."

The mention of the name Victor made the entire group of pokémon surrounding him shift uncomfortably. The Scrafty snapped his fingers and two Hariyama pinned him to the wall, then a Lunatone wrapped the stone of the wall around his wrists, ankles, neck and tail.

 _They think this will hold me?_ Tyranitar suppressed a smile while the Scrafty leapt up to his chest and looked him in the eye while holding onto one of his stone chest protrusions. "...You say you're here on Victor's orders?"

"Yeah, I am. And unless you want him coming down here and personally flattening each and every one of you, you'll get your sweaty hands off of me."  
The Scrafty grunted once and gestured for the Hariyama and Lunatone to release him. He dropped to the ground looked around at the crowd that was gathering around him. He was supposed to be scouting. This was not going well. "Where's my prisoner?"

"You mean our prisoner?"

Tyranitar resisted the urge to strangle this little punk. "No, I mean my prisoner. I captured her, she's _mine_."

"Actually, she's ours." A silvery voice came from above him, and an Ariados landed in front of him. "What's your name? Sorry, we were running a bit late. Something came up."

"The name's Barrage. Who are you?"

"Apologies, Barrage. My name is Widow. And this is Flatline." She gestured to a Noivern that hung from a part of the ceiling ten feet above like a Golbat, and when it screeched, every pokémon in the entire cavern covered their ears, trying to block out the ear-piercing shockwaves.

"Now you say that you've captured a member of Team Firestorm alive… Where is she?" She looked at the Scrafty with an intimidating glare.

The Scrafty stammered, "Uh… Tsume brought her to the gallows, and-"

"YOU FOOL! GO GET HER!"

"Y-yes, ma'am!" He scrambled away like an insect. It was amusing to watch. But if he was that scared of her, that meant that she was either really strong, or really good at acting tough. He figured it was the former of the two options, considering his own 'tough guy' act had failed miserably.

The Ariados smiled charmingly. Well, as charmingly as she could with the big mandibles sticking out of her face. "Now, why did you capture her? Were you planning on turning her in to Mordred?"

"Yeah." He growled. He didn't like where this was headed. But that made the most sense. Turn the prisoner into the one in charge.

"...Yet you say that Victor had you scouring this particular forest for Team Firestorm?"

"That's right." He kept his glare. Any sign of weakness could mean the death of him. He could muscle his way out of this, but not without burying Alice alive in the mountain with earthquake or incinerating her with outrage.

"Ah… I see…" Widow placed an appendage on her chin in mock thought as Alice was thrown into the middle of the ring of pokémon by a weird-colored Toxicroak. They all jeered and shouted at her, and her eyes told him everything he needed to know. _Run… Leave me._

"There's only one problem with what you said… I've spoken with Victor personally. Not once has he mentioned a Tyranitar in any of his forces, especially not one as powerful as you. And if you really had spoken to him, you would know that we're the ones that were hired to kill them, almost succeeded at eliminating their Mismagius, and that you were to bring any captured members of their team directly to us."

 _They almost took down Dusknoir and Roy?_

"He never mentioned either of you guys to me." He looked around at the big circle of pokémon, "Did anyone tell you to bring Team Firestorm to these two?"  
Slowly but surely, they started whispering amongst themselves and shaking their heads slowly. At one point a Salamence narrowed its eyes and growled almost silently.

Widow hissed and snapped at him. "Bah! So he didn't tell everyone! But nowhere in his forces is there a Tyranitar. And definitely not a Tyranitar with the name Barrage. Do you wish to explain that?"

He glanced back at Alice, his panic rising, and Widow nodded. "...Hold him down. We'll detain him until Victor can chat with him personally." The two Hariyama pinned him to the wall again, and Widow turned towards Alice. "Tell me, girl… How do you wish to die? Swiftly in this battle... Or slowly at the hands of Mordred?"

She smiled defiantly as her hands burst into flames. "I will die of old age before I fall in battle!"

Widow retreated two steps back in response to the flames, but laughed after a moment and stepped forward. "Good, good… Then you will fight with valor!"

The Ariados lunged forward, and Tyranitar did everything in his power to stop from using outrage and incinerating everyone in this place. Instead, he watched and tried to communicate with Dawn. But when he tried to use his mind, it went dark, almost like a psychic block. _What…?_

" _She cut off communications, remember?"_ Roy's voice broke in, and Tyranitar nearly gasped with surprise. _Roy! What do I do? Alice will die if I don't do anything! But if I do something, then they'll kill her before I can get to her!_

Roy's voice nearly cracked with despair. _...I don't like it either. But if we do anything, they'll kill us, then her. Or the other way around. As long as that stupid restriction is in place, we're helpless._

Tyranitar watched as Alice lunged to the side and used baton pass to swap positions with the Ariados. The crowd around them cheered, and he strained against the raw strength of the Hariyama. Roy, _can you do anything remotely? Like, without revealing yourself?_

 _I don't know of that Banette is here or not… She can capture me in a heartbeat if she knows of my presence. It's best if we just wait and-_

A boomburst attack flooded the entire chamber, and the Noivern dropped from the ceiling, landed on top of Alice, and held her down with his talons. Tyranitar's eyes widened as the Noivern's mouth glowed blue, inches from her face, and he slid his hand across the alpha marking on his forearm. _I don't care, I'm not going to let her die!_

He was enveloped in a purple sphere that threw the Hariyama off of him, and he charged straight forward, right through the crowd. He was grabbed by a Rhyperior, and that pause was just long enough for a blast of blue energy to come from the Noivern's mouth. His jaw dropped as Alice's limp form was swiftly wrapped in a cocoon of webbing from the Ariados, her entire upper body burnt beyond recognition for the brief moment he could see her.

He roared and used dragon pulse on the Noivern as it took to the air, but a Whimsicott floated between them and absorbed the attack without even flinching. He supercharged his fists and used thrash, knocking aside anyone in his way in a blind rage. He didn't care. It felt good to fight like this. The Noivern hoisted Alice's cocoon into the air after the Ariados flung it up to him, and he shot a thunderbolt at it. The Rhyperior used its lightningrod ability to draw in the attack, and the assassin vanished into one of the side tunnel systems. Tears filled his eyes as he turned back to the small army of pokémon behind him. "NO! No, no, NO! NO! NO!"

 _How can I explain to them… I let her die..._

He roared and used aerial ace to take to the air while being coated in a white energy. Roy didn't say anything in response, but Tyranitar dove into the cave system after the Noivern before being caught in a massive web draped across it. It wrapped around him repeatedly as he fell to the ground, and Roy whispered, "Mystical fire... This will probably burn a little bit."

The shadow next to him emitted a small column of flame that latched onto the webbing and broke it. Tyranitar roared and charged up a giga impact. He was surrounded by a red aura as his chest spikes elongated and his entire body swelled to brace for the impact.

 **-Connor-**

"Oh, no…" The healing glow coming from her headpiece dimmed down, and she knelt on the ground.

"Oh, no what?"

"Alice… I lost her."

Atlas stood up in the blink of an eye. "What do you mean?"

"...I lost her! Roy's still alright, and Tyranitar is fine, but he… _Oh, Arceus…_ " She covered her mouth with her hands and fell to her knees. Tears began falling down her face, and Connor moved closer. "Dawn. Look at me."

She tilted her head up towards him, her green hair still covering her eyes, and he asked her, "What happened? Where's Alice?

"She's…!" Her voice broke again, and Atlas clenched his fists. "She'd better be alright…"

Dawn's lip quivered and she hunched over, tears falling to the ground in quick succession. Atlas pointed at her. "You'd better tell me she's alright!"

Connor remained silent. He knew better. The Dimensional Scream was always right, every time it's been used.

"...Roy… Come in, Roy…" She seemed to be waiting for a response, then gasped as her head fin suddenly glowed a brilliant white. "Connor, Mirage! Go! NOW!"

She didn't give them any preparation, and they were instantly warped in front of a giant stone fortress built into the side of a mountain. Connor didn't waste any time, shrugging off the disorientation after being teleported such a vast distance with no preparation. "Come on! We have to get them!"

Mirage nodded and followed him. He used superpower to shatter the giant stone doors with a massive double overhand swing, mega-evolved and used surf to throw every pokémon in the area to the ground. He roared and charged forward after spotting Tyranitar wading through a group of large pokémon consisting of a Feraligatr, Hariyama, Rhyperior, Golurk and Aggron, plus a dozen other smaller pokémon that he couldn't make out in the flailing crowd. Tyranitar roared and thrashed, but these pokémon had the advantage in numbers. Then, suddenly, they collapsed to the ground, asleep. Roy floated out of the shadows and formed a massive, intimidating outline of a Mismagius along the far inside cavern wall.

" _ **IF YOU VALUE YOUR LIVES, YOU WILL LEAVE US BE!"**_

The entire wall burst into a wave of flames, and it took everything he had not to flee. Since when has Roy been able to cast fear incantations? He focused and used Blizzard, freezing a majority of the fleeing pokémon solid. Mirage used boomburst to shatter the frozen silhouettes and zipped between the enemies, using power-up punch in rapid succession, knocking aside wave after wave of enemies. Right now, they had the element of surprise. As soon as that wore off, they'd be overwhelmed. "TYRANITAR! LET'S GO! GRAB ALICE!" He didn't know if Alice was still alive, but he had to hope they got to them in time.

The colossus nodded and kicked the sleeping pokémon aside, looking around frantically. Connor shouted in pain after a Mightyena bit his arm. He growled and smashed its head into the ground with so much force that the stone cratered around his fist, but his arm was bleeding now, and the other pokémon were getting over their surprise, closing in fast. Connor knew that most of the pokémon in the crowd could use knock-off to get rid of his swamp bangle, and he saw at least four grass-types in the mix. "Fantastic…"

He reached out to Dawn and said, "Teleport us back! GO! Tyranitar has Alice!"

He felt his body getting compressed, and everything around him turned white and gold as he was teleported in the blink of an eye.

When he re-materialized, it took him a moment to regain his composure. He wasn't back in the base, which caught him off guard. "What?"  
 _Connor!_

"Dawn! What happened? Where are we?"

 _I… I couldn't teleport you all back… It's too much! My head's about to explode over here!_

"It's fine. Are we far enough away from that base?"

 _Yeah. You're fine. They're still losing their minds over what just happened. Hang on, I'm bringing the others out of warping..._

Mirage suddenly appeared and slammed full-throttle into the nearest tree in the forest they appeared in. She collapsed to the ground and held her face, groaning in pain.

Tyranitar fell from the sky a moment later, making a small crater where he landed. Shortly afterwards, Roy materialized from the shadows cast by the trees. Both of them looked crestfallen. Even Roy. His usual smug smile was replaced with a sad frown, tears lining the edges of his eyes.

Connor wanted to ask them what happened, but he already knew just by looking at their faces: The plan failed. And Alice was dead.

* * *

 **Welp... Chapter 17. I apologize for the sudden 'shot down again' thing, but I couldn't let it rest. It's even worse that Briar warned them, yet they still went... Anyways, I hope that you guys enjoyed this chapter, or hated it because of the events that went on. (Did you like the title name?) :P**

 **If you have any questions, comments, concerns or theories, feel free to leave them in the form of a Review or PM!**

 **Also, concerning Firestorm Battle Royale: I forgot that it's supposed to be an in-between story thing, so I will be holding off on posting new battles until this story is done and I am in the process of writing part two. I hope that you all understand, and I will see you all in the next update! Much Love!**

 **-PL**


	18. Though Darkness Comes

**-Chapter XVIII: Though Darkness Comes-**

 **-Connor-**

"Connor… I… I didn't know-" Tyranitar's voice was on the verge of breaking.

"What… happened?" Connor felt his anger rising by the second. "Why did she die? You had one job… scout the base and don't get caught!"

"They were too well-guarded. They were suspicious as soon as I came to the front door. Dawn's information made me think it would be easier. They took Alice from my arms and dragged her inside. I talked my way into the place… Then these two pokémon… An Ariados and a Noivern… They called my bluff… They tossed Alice into the middle of a dogfight… The Noivern, he…" Tyranitar took a deep breath and slammed his fist into the nearest tree, snapping it in two. "I could've just destroyed the base and everyone in it, and Alice wouldn't be-! GAH!"

Connor teared up and shook his head slightly. _Another one dead… I saw it too late… But what activated it? The Dimensional Scream?_

 _Connor? What's going on? Is everyone alright?_ Dawn's voice sounded concerned, which was understandable.

"No… Alice is..." he couldn't finish the sentence without bursting into tears. But Dawn got the message

 _...Should I tell the others? Atlas will probably take his anger out on Tyranitar as soon as he tells him. Perhaps I should-_

"No. That's not necessary. We'll tell him together." He turned to Tyranitar, and for some reason, he wasn't angry at the giant pokémon anymore. There was nothing he could have done. He saw that Tyranitar was pinned to the wall. And if Grovyle followed the restrictions to the point of not killing a threat like that Pikachu, then that meant it was serious if they broke the rules. Their plan was set to fail from the beginning… Briar had told them that.

"...Roy, what happened?"

His eyes widened for a moment, and when he opened his mouth, no words came out. Only a small whimper. Tears began falling down his face, and he shook his head rapidly. He sobbed, "I'm so sorry..."

He didn't know how to respond to that… Roy never cried. Not like this. Why did he have a change of heart all of the sudden?

"...Listen, Roy, I don't know exactly what happened, but it's not your fault. Okay?"

He shook his head. "I should've known… I could've helped out before a fight broke out… It is my fault, Connor…" He inhaled deeply, tears falling to the ground. "Briar warned us… But we went anyways."

"Hey, I know she did. But nobody ever knows what's going to happen. It could have succeeded… But it didn't." Connor was trying his best to not cry then and there. In all honesty, Alice was the one that calmed down everybody when their anger got out of hand. Even his. Without her, what would happen to the team?

 _They're already hurting badly… Atlas was already set on hunting them down… If he finds out that Alice…_ He grimaced and shook his head. _I won't let him. He'll get himself killed. I have to stay strong..._

Tyranitar collapsed to the ground, drawing him out of his thoughts. "Hey! Don't fall! What're you doing?"

The stone colossus was shuddering, a low rumbling noise coming from his throat. "How can I face them?"

"What? What're you-"

"I let her die… I could've gone mega sooner…"

 _Wait, he-_

"He mega-evolved and broke his restrictions to save her, Connor." Roy's eyes were sunken and had lost most of their mischievous glow. "I don't know what the penalty is, either… But there is nothing further he could have done."

Tyranitar choked back a sob whilst looking at the ground, and Connor nursed the wound on his arm. "Wow… Mightyena have a strong bite…" He stood up and rolled his eyes. "Now that's both arms injured… Tyranitar. Roy. Mirage… Let's move. We need to get back A.S.A.P."

 **-Amber-**

"Dawn, what happened?"

Her face was wet with tears, and Atlas clenched his fists so tightly his knuckles turned white. "Did someone die?"

 _YES!_

Amber flinched at the sudden shout, but when she looked around, nobody else seemed to notice. Dawn must have been speaking through telepathy.

When she looked at the Ralts, she was facing her. _The plan failed, and Alice…! GAH!_

Amber found herself tearing up. _This is my fault…_

Celebi scowled at Amber while crossing her arms. _This wasn't supposed to happen, Amber._

 _I know… I know…_

"Is Alice alright?!" Atlas spoke with more force.

"...I don't know." Dawn said. It was an obvious lie to Amber, but she had learned how to read others. It might not have been that obvious to Atlas. "Connor hasn't given any confirmation. They might have gotten there in time."

He slammed his fist down on the table in the center, nearly splitting it in two. "She'd better be alright!" He pointed at Grovyle and growled, "It was your idea to-"

"No, it was _her_ idea." Briar cut him off, her voice rapidly gaining a dangerous tone. "Alice volunteered to go in on her own initiative. None of us prompted her to do so. Do _not_ blame us if something were to happen to her. And there is always the possibility that she is alive. Do not jump to any conclusions just yet."

He took a deep breath and glared at her, but she stared him down fearlessly. She was much faster and had more agility, as well as leaf blades and vine whips to keep him at bay, so he wisely backed off. Amber turned back to Dawn and asked with her mind, "Where are they now?"

 _They're… They're a little over halfway back. I couldn't teleport them back all the way, and now I've used up almost all of my psychic energy. It's taking everything I've got to keep in contact with them. And if I use wish again like this, my body will explode. I'd have to rest for a couple days before I could do something like this again._

Amber nodded slowly. _I understand… But… Is Alice…?_

Dawn sniffled once and tilted her head down in confirmation. Amber pursed her lips and looked at the ground. Atlas was observing them intently, probably trying to determine what happened.

Out of nowhere she heard an explosion from immediately outside. Galvantula moved towards the noise faster than she could even register. By the time she had come out to see what was wrong, Galvantula had a dark gray Pikachu snared in a net of webbing that had been set up on the perimeter.

The Pikachu was shooting thunderbolts right and left, and she heard Grovyle groan from behind her before he rolled a sleep-inducing seed bomb next to the electric-type's face. When it detonated, the grey pokémon crumpled to the ground, fast asleep.

Grovyle crossed his arms and moved closer. Basileus was already towering over it, and Grovyle held out his hand. "Wait."

Celebi tilted her head, and Basileus glanced between his son and the Pikachu before stepping back. Amber's immediate response was to let Atlas kill the Pikachu. She didn't know if it was an enemy or just a wandering pokémon that happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. But when Grovyle told Basileus to wait, she hesitated. Grovyle never told his father to back down.

Grovyle smashed a chesto berry in his hand and fed it to the Pikachu after a moment, and Celebi tilted her head. "My dear Grovyle… What are you doing?"

"Waking him up. I've met him before."

"What? Why didn't you say anything?" Mirage questioned.

"Because he's a bit… punch-happy. His thunderbolt is what fried my hair."

"Oh. Then why are you helping him? And why'd you say a Helioptile-"

"Ugh…"

The Pikachu's eyes fluttered open, and Grovyle instantly pinned him to the nearest tree with vine whips. "Start talking!"

 _Well._ Amber thought with a chuckle. _That's more like it._

The Pikachu tried to break loose, but the tree seemed to come alive and wrap its bark around his arms. "Arceus, what's your problem? You've done nothing but attack me every time we've met!"

"How did you find us?"

"I followed the trail." the Pikachu said matter-of-factly.

"The… trail? Impossible. There's no way you could've…" Then he thought about it for a moment. "Connor…!"

"Yeah. For the leader of Team Firestorm, he sucks at stealth. But whatever. I'm here because I've thought it over after what you said…" Grovyle nodded slowly, and the Pikachu continued. "And I want to join you guys."

Dawn floated out from the hut and levitated inches from his face. He narrowed his eyes at her, and was about to say something, but before he could, she grabbed his ear and yanked him free of Grovyle's vine whips. She threw him to the ground and trapped him in a sphere of earth peeled from the ground itself. The trees around them were surrounded in a pink aura, seeming to sway in the same direction, and Dawn's eyelids glowed bright blue. "Why the sudden change of heart, Aaron? When we met yesterday, you had no interest in joining us."

"Because… I just did, alright?"

She took a deep breath and appeared to calm down. "I don't believe that. I can read minds, and you're as easy to read as an open book."

His eyes widened and his entire body glowed with electricity. "You'd better let me out, or I'll-!"

"You'll what?"

Aaron rolled his eyes and shook his head, which was the only thing sticking out of the sphere of earth. "Okay. Alright, listen, sweetheart. I'm not here to fight you. I'm here because I want to help you fight the Mafia. Okay? So calm down and let me-"

The dirt seemed to condense, and Aaron's breathing became more forced. "Do not tell me to calm down, and _don't_ call me sweetheart," Dawn said with an impressive amount of authority.

"Dawn, stop. This isn't how we treat others." Vulcan walked out of the tent and stared down the Pikachu. "What's your deal?"

The sphere of dirt crumbled away, and he brushed himself off while saying, "My deal is that I talked to Grovyle yesterday, and he made an offer. I wanted to know if it was still up for grabs."

"That's Vulcan's call right now," the wood-gecko replied. "He's the leader while Connor's not here."

"Well where's Connor?"

"First things first… What's your name?" Vulcan knelt down to the Pikachu, and it looked like it was ready to headbutt him. "Aaron. I take it you're Vulcan."

He stood up and crossed his arms, "That's right."

He looked directly at Amber, much to her surprise. "I don't remember reading about your girlfriend over there-"

"She's not-! ...She's not my girlfriend."

Aaron shrugged slightly. "If you say so. So can I join or not? I hear that you need an electric-type. And not a lot of pokémon in the Mafia resist my attacks."

Vulcan seemed to think it over for a minute, but Amber already knew the outcome. She had read about this team in the future, including the members on it before it disappeared.

Galvantula let out a slight chuckle after an awkward amount of silence. "Um… Hey, you got a little dust on your fur." He began scratching at Aaron's side in an attempt to clean him off, and the grey Pikachu growled at him. "It _is_ my fur."

"Oh. I knew that… Heh."

"So why do you want to join us?" Vulcan brought the conversation back to him.

"Vengeance. Nothing more, nothing less. I hate the Mafia just as much as you do."

Vulcan blinked rapidly and sort of swayed backwards. "Whoa… Okay. That's, uh, not what most pokémon would say."

Aaron shrugged and let out a short laugh. "Just being honest. You guys have, like, two mind-readers anyways. No point in lying."

Vulcan glanced at Dawn, and she seemed hesitant. After a moment she agreed with a silent nod of her head, and Vulcan turned to Grovyle. "Why didn't you guys let him come see us at first?"

"He doesn't take orders very well," Dawn replied. "He told us that when we first met. And Connor didn't like that."

"My answer depends on if that's changed. Can you follow any of our orders to the letter?"

Aaron took a deep breath and said, "Yeah. I'll listen to you guys if I join."

Vulcan glanced at Dawn, and she tilted her head down in confirmation, meaning he meant what he said. Vulcan stood further upright, attempting to mask his anxiety. "I'll give you temporary membership, but Connor and I have to make the decision together before we allow you to officially join. And even then… I don't know. We'll think about it. We have to be a lot more careful now that we're facing a bunch of criminals.

Aaron grunted, but agreed. "Fair enough."

Dawn shook her head slightly with a frown on her face, and Amber spoke with her mind to avoid attention. _Dawn, what's wrong?_

 _You mean besides one of our teammates dying literally ten minutes ago?_

Amber scowled at her and moved closer. Dawn cringed and held her hand out in apology. _Sorry… I've just… I've never felt death before. Not like that._

 _It's alright. But I'm not talking about Alice… This Pikachu. You don't like him. Why?_

Dawn tilted her head down and took a deep breath. _Is it that obvious?_

 _It is to me. Especially since you're usually so sweet to everyone._

She saw a light smile appear underneath Dawn's green hair, followed by her voice. _His aura's too strong for a Pikachu. Like, it doesn't feel like he's a Pikachu, but I know he is. I saw his memories and all that, and everything he's told us is the truth._

 _Then what is there to dislike?_

 _I can't help but feel that he's got ulterior motives. But I don't know why. I literally know everything about his life. He was born in Amp Plains as a Pichu, grew up on Mt. Travail, left home when he was fourteen because he was bullied about his grey coloration, and a whole bunch of other stuff. His aura is through the roof for his species, though. But not his power levels, which is what I thought it was at first. He's still a regular pikachu, power-wise, but he has a strong enough aura to make aura spheres._

Amber looked at Vulcan and the Pikachu, who was being pelted with questions about himself, then back at Dawn. _I knew something was off about him... But his aura…? How is that possible?_

 _He's trying to get to Victor through us. Since we're the most powerful team around, supposedly. And Grovyle did try and recruit him in the forest._

Amber nearly gasped in surprise. She shut off her telepathy and thought to herself. _I thought he only suggested-! No! This isn't supposed to happen!_

She heard a loud crash behind her, and when she turned around, Connor fell to the ground from midair, his left arm swollen and bleeding, with a chunk of skin missing from it. Tyranitar appeared in a blur of green and red, his skin glistening from using rock polish. He dug his feet into the ground to stop, making ten-foot long trenches where his heels were, followed closely by Mirage kicking up a miniature tornado of foliage in her wake. Roy floated out of the nearest tree's shadow, and all of them looked crestfallen. None of them were smiling in the slightest. Atlas came up to them first and looked around for a moment before staring at Connor, ignoring the fact that they travelled so far in such little time. "Where's Alice?"

He looked to the ground silently, and Tyranitar stepped forward. "It's my fault, Atlas…"

Mirage, Roy and Connor all looked at him with disbelief, and Amber's jaw nearly dropped. Atlas looked up at the giant and took a shaky breath. "...Is she dead?"

Tyranitar slowly nodded in confirmation. "...I couldn't get to her in time. I'm so sorry..."

Atlas turned away from Tyranitar and took multiple deep breaths in an attempt to calm himself. He paused for a moment, then stomped the ground with so much force that the ground shifted underneath them. Tyranitar stood perfectly still, and when Atlas turned to face him, tears were falling to the ground. "What happened?! How did she die?!"

"They… They took her from my arms and pinned me to the ground… After that, it was over."

Atlas pointed at him and spoke with so much despair that Amber nearly burst into tears. "You could have saved her! How did they hold you down?! What could they possibly have done to take her away from you?!"

Tyranitar shook his head and looked at Amber with so much desperation that she wanted to get Celebi to travel back in time and reverse these events by stopping Alice from going. But that wasn't how time travel worked. That kind of interference could destroy everything they had worked to create, and end up making everything worse than before.

Amber shook her head solemnly, and Tyranitar visibly shuddered. "Atlas… I'm so sorry…"

Atlas clenched his fists and started walking towards the stone colossus, but Tyranitar shook his head and strongly said, "I'm sorry… But I won't let you attack me."

"Then why did you let them, huh?! You let them hold you down and take her! And now she's gone!"

 _Amber!_

She whipped her head around to Celebi, who was still crossing her arms and scowling. _When we came here, you promised that no one else would die. No matter what, protect them with our lives. That was our agreement. And not even five days later, Alice is dead._

She stared at the little grass-type and gritted her teeth, blocking out Atlas' shouting. _I understand… I'll tell them tomorrow at daybreak._

 _With everyone? Even Team Firestorm?_

 _...Yes. Although I don't wish for them to know, we must tell them about everything. They have a right to know._

 _Alright. Connor is already suspicious, so I would talk to him tonight, after everyone else has gone to sleep._ Celebi suggested.

 _Okay._ She nodded and looked at the rapidly dimming sky. "It's getting dark. We should take shelter for the night."

* * *

 **Okay, so this was chapter 18! Atlas was relatively calmer than one might expect, but still... Not exactly calm. And what is Amber's big thing she has to tell them? With that question in mind, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Go ahead and leave any questions, comments, concerns or theories in the form of a review or PM! The feedback is much appreciated!**

 **-PL**


	19. A Gift Denied

**-Chapter XIX: A Gift Denied-**

 **-Connor-**

He couldn't sleep. He'd been up for a few hours now, along with Atlas, Basileus, Amber and Grovyle. They had accepted Aaron's offer for the time being. But Vulcan had said that he had to swear by Arceus that he would follow any orders given to him. He agreed, so Celebi made the Pikachu a makeshift bed right next to him and Vulcan. It had gotten dark by the time everyone had calmed down over Alice. Atlas almost fought Tyranitar again, but Grovyle stopped him. But as he laid there, staring up at the wooden roof while lying on his grass bed, he couldn't help but think about everything they'd been through, and what he could have done differently. They had stopped the destruction of time and space on two separate occasions. And now, even when Briar kept telling them no, they sent them on a suicide mission. He received a Dimensional scream telling him what would happen, but it was literally seconds too late. And now Alice was gone... Just like that. And Atlas was taking it hard... He'd been crying for over half an hour.

"Connor..."

He turned to Amber while she sat next to him. "Do you mind if I sit here for a moment?"

He shrugged and continued looking up. "Go ahead."

"Connor… I'm sorry… About Alice."

He didn't look at her, but said, "Mhmm…?"

"But… since you didn't appear to be going to sleep anytime soon, I wanted to talk to you."

"About…?"

"About when you were human."

 _Oh?_

He shifted his body to face her, and she looked around at the rest of the sleeping Pokémon. She kept her voice at a low whisper and leaned in closer. "Connor… I know this is sudden, but I wanted to talk to you about who you were… In your past."

"Uh-huh… Kind of a weird time to talk about it, but go on."

She looked down, as if she were trying to figure out the right words.

Connor began after waiting for a little while in awkward silence. "Okay, let me start with some questions. One, what Grovyle and Dusknoir both told me. Apparently I was some super-human-pokémon thing with aura powers? Care to explain how that came around?"

She stared at him with disbelief, then said, "When I met you, you already possessed those powers as a full-blooded human. You were able to do anything on the material plane. Teleport, fly, transform into any pokemon, regenerate entire limbs at once, slow down and speed up time, shoot bolts of pure energy... even bring back the dead, to a certain degree."

He tried to comprehend how he could do all of this, especially as a human. Supposedly, based off of some reading he had done over the course of the past year, humans were very fragile creatures. Even the strongest human wasn't a match for most wild pokémon. And they only lived, on average, about seventy to eighty years. Pokémon with short lifespans here lived over two-hundred years, but until they reached thirty, they age at practically the same rate as humans. Kind of like elves in human mythology.

"But… How? Like, if I was supposed to be super powerful, how come I got turned into a Mudkip? And got Amnesia of everything? Darkrai wasn't a match for us when we were normal pokémon. How did he beat me then?"

She took a deep breath and shrugged. "I don't know how any of those events happened... I'm sorry, I truly am. But… I want you to know that… I can help you."

His eyebrows shot up at that statement. "Help me… how?"

"I can cure your amnesia."

He was about to laugh, but the seriousness in her eyes made the laugh die in his throat. "...Seriously-?! How? Is it like what you did to Vulcan to erase the hypnosis?"

"Something similarly to that, yes."

"That's... I mean... uh... How can you do that, anyways?"

"I am a being of blazing Aura… Just like you." She opened her hand, and a bright orange fireball formed in her palm. Except, when he looked closer, it looked more like an aura sphere.

"What is that?"

"It's the power that you bestowed upon me." She grabbed hold of his hand and looked into his eyes as the orange energy filled him with a newfound strength, and his head filled with blurry pictures that he couldn't make out. Her amber-colored eyes drew him in like a flame, but in a good way. It didn't feel wrong. Something about her was familiar… And not just from earlier. But from his forgotten past, too.

"You still have that power inside of you… All you need is someone to bring it to the surface." The endearing look she gave him made him want to say yes without hesitation. But without explanation, anger rose up. Why was she suddenly helping him out now? "Then why wait all this time to tell me? You could've cured my amnesia when you first started helping us out! Why didn't you do anything then?"

"You… you weren't ready to receive-"

He stared at her with a shocked anger and subconsciously raised his voice. "Are you freakin' kidding me? _You_ didn't think _I_ was ready to have my memories back? The one thing I wanted more than anything else? Vulcan and I looked for months trying to find out how to fix it! That's how this whole thing about stopping time started!"

She shook her head rapidly, making sure to stay quiet. "That's not what I meant… Connor, I didn't know how you would react to many of the things you'd done. If your memories were to return, I feared that you would be very different than you are now... Your team needed you. They still need you… But now… it's different. If your memories were to return, your power would, as well. And with your strength, you could protect us all. Your team would be safe."

He clenched his fists and rolled over to face away from her. "If it means that I'll be different than I am now, I don't want it."

"...It might alter your behavior slightly-"

"Then I don't want it. I don't want your help bringing my memories back. I'll figure it out myself."

"I don't understand… Why you wouldn't want your memories. It would help protect all of us and enable you to do things that used to be beyond your normal capabilities."

He rolled back over to face her, a scowl across his face. "Because, Amber... Sometimes people with tons of power get it taken away for a reason. Sure, having my old power would make this whole thing easier… and probably fix a lot of problems… But I like myself the way I am now. Even if it sucks a whole lot, I get to share hardships with my team, feel their pain, experience their fear… It's what makes living worth it, and it's what makes me their leader. The constant mystery, the suspense, the heartbreak, and still knowing that we'll win eventually because we're the good guys? What's the point of living without any of that? Living without being afraid of anything and being able to solve every problem in the blink of an eye… There's no fun in that. I sure wouldn't be where I am today if I hadn't lost my memories and stuff. And even though I wish all of this hadn't happened… I know that Arceus, or whoever the heck's in charge of the world, put me here for a reason. I just don't know that reason quite yet. At first I thought it was to save time, then we did that... Then I thought it was to save Space, and we did that too. Now... I'm not sure."

She stared at him with a dumbfounded look. "I-I don't…"

"You don't have to understand. You've just gotta have faith."

"Faith…?"

"Yeah. I mean, you're a Temporal Guardian, right? Nobody that I know outside of our team thinks that you exist!"

She reeled back slightly. "Wh-what? What do you mean?"

"You guys are myths. Most pokémon haven't even heard the term before. Basileus is a Temporal Guardian. He knew Lapras. Lapras knew you. And Basileus looks up to you. Maybe it's just me, but he doesn't seem like the type to take orders from just anyone. So I put the pieces together after some of the stuff he said."

"Who told you he's a... a Temporal guardian?"

"He did. He told us when we got blown into the sea, right before Lapras rescued us."

She seemed to be panicking, judging by her sudden fidgeting and constant eye movement. Connor tilted his head at her. "What, are you not a Temporal Guardian? If I'm wrong, just say so."

"...You're not wrong…"

He narrowed his eyes at her, then at the rest of the insurgo. "So what's the rest of their deals? Celebi's a time-walking pokémon, and I think she's one too, right?"

Amber nodded, and Connor grunted once. "I thought so."

Amber sighed. "I'm sorry, Connor… We had every intention of telling your team at daybreak. After Alice…" She pursed her lips and continued, "That was the deciding factor."

"But why keep it a secret?"

"...Had your team known-Atlas and Jade, especially- then they would have put us on a much higher pedestal than they should have. They would expect us to solve all of your problems. We are very limited in what we are allowed to do outside of our assigned eras."

He clenched his fists and tears began falling, "You think that I expect anything like that from you? I know that being a Temporal Guardian isn't that simple. I've talked to Lapras all about it after we stopped Darkrai." Then he looked to her, tears still lining the edges of his eyes. "But I expected you all to at least try and push the boundaries a little bit, since I _did_ help you restore the future, didn't I?!

She looked at him and nodded slowly. "Yes… You did. But… we have specific guidelines that we have to follow-"

"So killing pokémon? Can you guys really not do that? Because that doesn't make sense. A new branch would just form if you did, right? Briar explained the whole time-continuum thing with a tree, and from the looks of it, there's going to be a reality in which we're killed by the stupid Mafia. I'm just trying to make sure that we aren't that reality."

"We can… We just try to refrain from it. Especially those that play a vital role in this timeline, such as Mordred and other evil pokémon."

"So you could have saved her? Is that what you're saying?"

"I'm not saying that… We can't undo events at a moment's notice. Not without Dialga's permission. And he doesn't take that kind of interference lightly to begin with. Especially not by us."

Another thought popped into his head in spite of his confusion. "How are all you guys here, anyways? Wouldn't your time-powers be too much for one era and make time collapse on itself?"

"Dialga has stripped us of most of our power. We have sacrificed everything to help you. I will explain further details to the rest of your team in the morning. Do you want to talk about anything else?"

"I'm good." He rolled back over to avoid looking at her, although the light cast from the flame on her tail made a shadowy outline of a Charizard on the wall.

 **-Victor-**

"Victor." Widow's voice cut into his train of thought. He put a feather in the book he was reading and looked up at her. "Hm?"

"We've got one."

Victor looked at Mordred smugly and closed his novel. He was just getting to the best part, which annoyed him, but it could wait. "Marvelous! Who do I have the honor of meeting?"

"Alice. The Lopunny."

Victor nodded solemnly. "I hope the job didn't get too messy?"

"It was easy work. They practically came right to us."

"They?"

"Yeah; _They."_ Flatline crawled into the room, hoisting a large bundle of webbing on his back, like a backpack. "They've got another friend. A Tyranitar that calls himself Barrage. But it wasn't an issue. Two Hariyama held him down while I finished her off."

"A Tyranitar? He could make a decent member." Victor placed his wing on his chin in thought. "I hope that you were able to capture him?"

"Unfortunately, he was able to Mega-evolve. He muscled his way through the entire base and escaped." Widow sounded more annoyed than concerned, which amused him.

Victor couldn't help but chuckle. "And he's the Alpha, no less! This is marvelous! So far Rogue is the only Alpha among my ranks! This Tyranitar would be a wonderful addition!" He turned to Mordred and paced to and fro. "His dark-typing will make him immune to hypnotic incantations… And if he is an ally of Team Firestorm, I doubt I could earn his loyalty any other way… I'll have to think about this later. Mordred, remind me to send Koumori to gather more recent intelligence on Team Firestorm. New allies appear to be popping up right and left, which is bothering me." He turned to the silk coffin with a smile. "Now! Let me see her!"

Flatline grunted and threw the cocoon to the ground. He heard a somewhat high-pitched shout. It was muffled, but definitely there. Flatline's ears twitched, signaling that he heard it as well. Victor narrowed his eyes at Widow. "...She is dead, right?"

Widow nodded. "Her body was burnt to a crisp by Flatline's dragon pulse. And she wasn't holding a treasure bag or anything of the sort."

Victor directed his gaze to Flatline. "You heard it, didn't you, Flatline?"

Flatline slowly nodded, and Widow tilted her head. "Hm? I didn't hear anything." She pulled a quill off of her back and pressed it against the webbing. "Just as we promised, we have results within a week."

As soon as she punctured the layer of silk, Flatline vanished in an eruption of smoke, and the cocoon swelled up the very next moment. A purple sphere of light emanated from the thickening fog, causing Widow and Mordred to back away, then shattered, signaling a Mega Evolution. Victor shouted, "Kill the intruder! Don't let it escape!"

He flew backwards with a swift beat of his wings and pressed the button on the underside of his desk. Shortly after, the bookcase behind him slid aside to reveal a stairway. He dove into the tunnel as the shelf slid back into place, muffling multiple shouts and explosions.

After quickly making his way out of the tunnel and into his secondary command center, he took a deep breath to calm his pulse. "What in Arceus' name was that?"

* * *

 **So... Today is February 29th... Amber still hasn't even really said anything big yet besides giving Connor his memories back... What are your thoughts, guys? Was Connor being a stubborn little butt about it, or do you think that he was sort of right about not wanting his memories back? And who's that pokémon at the end? Food for thought for the next few days! As always, go ahead and leave any questions, comments, concerns and theories about what might happen in the form of a Review or PM! Much Love!**

 **-PL**


	20. Keepers of Time

**-Chapter XX: Keepers of Time-**

 **-Manaphy-**

He swam alongside Cassandra and Galatia in the darkness of the ocean, weaving between massive coral reefs that were bigger than mountains on the mainland, in hot pursuit of an extremely dangerous outlaw.

Cassandra called back to her teammates, "Alright, this is an important mission! We are to capture this outlaw without casualties! He is wanted for terrorizing the Phione in the Miracle Sea on three separate occasions! Manaphy, your leaders fought him when you were ill as an infant. Then again, you probably already knew this."

Galatia pressed her arms to her body and swam even faster through the water. "Remember, our goal is to apprehend him. Not kill him. Be careful, all of you!"  
Manaphy nodded with an affirmative grunt and held on to Cassandra's back as she swam faster. They picked up speed to the point that his face wanted to peel off. They were swimming 40 knots on average, in pursuit of their outlaw. (46 mph)

Hydro pointed towards a giant blue snakelike outline. "There he is!"

Cassandra nodded and called back. "Manaphy! Go!"

He nodded and closed his eyes. His chest glowed pink, and his consciousness was transferred into the pokémon they were chasing. He was slightly disoriented. A Gyarados… He hadn't seen one before, but he heard that they were one of the most powerful pokémon in the ocean, behind Kyogre and Lugia.

He looked up at Team Siren and stayed perfectly still. He saw his body begin thrashing on Cassandra's back, and he willed himself to stay put in this body. _Wait… Wait… Just a little longer…_

Hydro's fist began glowing, and Narobi's head shell crackled with electricity. _Now!_

He swapped their consciousnesses again, and Gyarados roared with rage as Manaphy was transferred back into his own body. "GROOOOOH!"

Narobi clasped his hands together and closed his eyes as the sparks grew brighter. "Cassandra, if you'd please?"

She nodded and used protect, the blue bubble shielding all of them. Then the water around them glowed yellow and sparkled with electricity. Gyarados thrashed in the water and tried to use bite, but Hydro swam through the protect barrier, grappled his head and used dynamic punch. The Gyarados growled at him and shook him off. "TEAM SIREN… YOU'VE BEEN A THORN IN MY SIDE FOR TOO LONG! THIS ENDS NOW! GRRAH-HA-HA!"

Cassandra smiled defiantly and stretched her body out in the water until she was almost as long as the outlaw. "It seems that you're outmatched. Your brief reign of terror is about to come to an end."

"ACTUALLY, TEAM SIREN, YOU'VE SWAM RIGHT INTO MY TRAP! GRRAH-HA-HA!"

As if on cue, about thirty pokémon emerged from the reefs and stone crevasses around them. Two Lanturn shone like spotlights and shocked Narobi with a dual thunderbolt attack. He fought to remain conscious, and at the last second, Manaphy swapped bodies with him. The electricity was insane. His vision immediately blurred. Then, out of nowhere, it stopped. He looked through the Slowking's eyes, and a blur of orange zipped between the Lanturns. A split moment later, they were both frozen in blocks of ice. A whirlpool formed around Gyarados, and he roared, "DESTROY TEAM SIREN!"

Manaphy used heart swap again, and Narobi took a deep breath. "...Thank you."

Manaphy nodded. "Don't mention it."

"Galatia, use Giga Impact."

"C-Cassandra-!" she stammered. "We swore never to-"

"That is an order!" The Milotic wrapped around a Sharpedo and used Dragonbreath. She tossed the Sharpedo aside and used Hypnosis on a Feraligatr. It slumped over in the water, and Galatia began glowing white. "...As you wish."

The Empoleon swam forward, the water around her evaporating in a wave of bubbles due to the heat generated by the attack. Suddenly, she was grabbed by a Kingler mid-attack. Hydro and Narobi both gasped with surprise as the Kingler let her go after a moment. "Leave this to us, madam." It was a female, by the sound of it.

Manaphy looked behind her, and three other pokémon seemed to be swimming around in the whirlpool, barraging Gyarados from all sides. He heard shouts coming from the maelstrom, but Galatia used slash on the Kingler, knocking it aside, but other than that not really doing much damage. "Don't interfere with an apprehension."

The Kingler nodded slowly. "Of course. It's jus' that my teammates 're swimming around in there, and-" a huntail from the monster house bit her small pincer, but she grabbed its head with her big one and crushed it in one swift motion, not even fazed. "And I'd prefer for your team not to interrupt."

Galatia stared at the huntail floating motionlessly in the water, and Manaphy flinched as Cassandra's protect barrier repelled a Clawitzer. Narobi used psychic on a Dragalge, and Hydro smashed two of a Barbaracle's heads into the nearest reef. Before long, Team Siren, alongside this mysterious Kingler, defeated the entire monster house. The Kingler didn't look out of breath. Instead, she was smiling. "Looks like Sam is almost done."

Manaphy hadn't noticed, but he commotion coming from the whirlpool had died down. She could see Gyarados' outline, but it was barely moving. Then, a Dewgong emerged from the Whirlpool, used blizzard, freezing the Gyarados in a chunk of ice. Then a Golduck swam around it, the gem on its forehead glowing red. The ice was enveloped in a pink aura, shattering into thousands of chunks the size of daggers. It swirled around the Gyarados, and the Golduck swung its arm down. The ice shards followed suit, impaling the Gyarados from all sides. The giant serpent was too tough for that to kill him, only cause him major discomfort, so Manaphy swam towards the Golduck. It shook its head, its back still to Manaphy. It was a male, Manaphy observed from its larger head crest.

The Kingler reached towards Manaphy. "Manaphy, we're not here to hurt ya. Just let us do our job."

Cassandra swam forward, ignoring the Klingler's statement. "Where is he?"

"Pardon?" The Golduck released his psychic hold on the ice. He glanced at the Dewgong, and it swam towards the Gyarados again.

Cassandra glared at him. "You heard me. This pokémon has been on our wanted list for over a year! You cannot come in at the last minute and claim it as your apprehension! Where is your leader?"

"Ah, forgive me, Cassandra. Your beauty is as intriguing as the latest novel I've been reading. You are more stunning every time I lay eyes upon you."

The Milotic rolled her eyes. "Ugh. Where is Sam, Dylan?"

"It's Jetsam, Cassandra. We've discussed this several times."

A male Floatzel swam up and hovered in front of them, and when he met Manaphy's eyes, he gasped. "...Manaphy?"

Cassandra nodded slowly. "Yes. Now why are you here?"

The Floatzel shook away his apparent shock. "Same reason as you. To apprehend this outlaw."

Manaphy noticed a long, pale section of skin running diagonally across the Floatzel's stomach.

"No. He was ours."

"Ah, but we took him down, didn't we?" He let out a short chuckle. "Alright, fine… I'll admit, you did make it easier on us…"

"So who are you again?" Manaphy asked.

The Floatzel smiled and floated closer. "Jetsam, leader of Team Maelstrom. At your service."

He looked at Cassandra and chuckled softly, "Honestly, you should have told me. How in the world did you manage to find him?"

He gestured to Manaphy, and he piped up. "I'm right here, you know!"

"Ah, yes. Sorry about that. I just… never thought I'd get to see you in person."

"...What's so important about me?"

"Oh, nothing." He looked at the Milotic again, and a silent message was relayed between them.

"Cut that out!"

"Cut what out?" The Floatzel put on a mischievous grin, and Manaphy huffed, "That! You're talking about me while I'm right here!"

"Would you prefer if we talked behind your back?"

"Well… No, but-"

"I'm only joking. You see, our teams go back quite a ways. After all, we're aspiring to be just like you guys!" The Floatzel pat Hydro's back, and Manaphy glanced behind Sam. "Um… Aren't you forgetting-"

"Oh, him? Don't worry, he'll be nice and safe in Jellicent's prison until somebody comes and picks him up. After all, nobody put in there's ever escaped! Honestly, compared to Jellicent's jail, Magnezone's prison is like a joke!"

Manaphy blinked, and the Gyarados was gone. "Wha-?!"

"Exploration team badges." Sam clarified. "You touch an apprehended outlaw with one, they get sent straight to Jellicent to atone for their crimes."

"Oh. I knew that. But who…"

"Me, of course!" the Dewgong swam circles around Sam, and he did a joking facepalm. "Neva…"

Manaphy tilted his head at her. "Are you Sam's co-leader?"

"That's right! Well, more like second in command. But I know what I'm doing more often than he does, so I give him advice from time to time."

"So… Why are you guys here?"

Dylan, the Golduck, floated closer and shrugged nonchalantly. "Honestly, we were just bored, so we decided to spice things up. It's not everyday you get to fight a fully grown Gyarados, since most Magikarp don't make it long enough to evolve. Aaand Sam's pretty bent on earning that 'top ranking ocean exploration team' thing, so yeah… Heh." He smirked, and Sam crossed his arms with a scowl. "It's not just a rank, Dylan."

"I don't see what the huge fuss is all about. I'd much rather be at home, relaxing while reading _Into the Volcano_ … It's really… a good read..." The Golduck seemed to be daydreaming, and the Kingler smacked him with her small pincer. "Don't daydream on the job, Dylan!"

"Regardless," Sam said slightly louder in an attempt to recapture everyone's attention. "I must ask myself… Why is the prince of the sea with Team Siren?"

 **-Aaron-**

 _Connor's a human…? And what's this other group's deal? Temporal Guardians? What's that? They mentioned Dialga… I don't know. These guys are crazy._

He was a light sleeper; Any movement usually woke him up. This time was no different. Except this time he pretended to be asleep. Right now he was scouting out this team. He needed to know everything about them before he officially joined. He didn't like commitment, or becoming part of a team in general. After the Charizard sat down next to him, he awoke instantly, and he was impressed with the amount of trust these pokémon had in each other, to be able to sleep so close and share such important information. He had never had that. His family was the only thing he could trust. His dad and sister…

He teared up at the thought of them. _Arceus… Why them…? Why did it have to be them? They didn't do anything wrong…_

His cheeks sparked with electricity in spite of himself. One of the stray sparks zapped Connor, but he didn't even stir, since he was a ground-type. He sighed with relief and rested his head on the ground, now staring at the ceiling that was illuminated by Amber and Vulcan's tails. _But how? How can they have so much trust in each other, even when their own comrades are dying left and right?_

 _ **Because we're more than just a team. We're family.**_

He covered his mouth to avoid shouting. He looked around rapidly to see the Ralts standing next to him.

"Arceus, can you stop doing that?!" He hissed at her.

 _ **Doing what? I'm communicating with you using telepathy.**_

"Exactly! I don't want you in my head!"

She tilted her head to the side, and he got a good look, long look at her for the first time without being her punching bag. He saw that her eyes were closed underneath her green hair. But he could still feel her gaze on him. It was kind of unsettling. "Um… What's with your eyes?"

Her mouth downturned as she leaned closer to him, this time speaking in reality. "I don't trust you… Connor and Vulcan might, and since they're the ones in charge, I listen to them. But I've already been inside your head. From the moment we met, I knew everything there was to know about you. You're driven like nobody else I've seen. But you're reckless. You're bent on vengeance. I could go on. But to tell you the truth, I could care less about your attitude. You're not evil, that much is apparent, but we needed Alice. Instead, she died, and we got you."

That nearly set him off. This Ralts, whom he had never met before, messed around inside his head without his permission, and now she's trying to say that she doesn't trust him to the point of insulting him like that? And on top of that, she hadn't even been with the team for more than a few days, from what he had observed.

"Listen, _sweetheart._ I don't need your trust, alright? You haven't been here much longer than me. So _don't_ go insulting me like that."

The Ralts' eyelids glowed slightly, and he glared at her. "What? You gonna use psychic on me? Crush me with your telekinesis?"

"Hey, can you keep it down?" Connor groaned. "We're trying to sleep here."

He shifted his gaze to the half-asleep Swampert. "Sorry." He turned back to Dawn immediately afterwards, but she was already lying down on the opposite end of the room. She must have teleported. He rolled over and mumbled, "What a b****." He closed his eyes and tried to go to sleep. That Ralts really got under his skin. She knew exactly what to say to make him mad. But why? She seemed nice to everyone else. Why was she so mean to him?

 _Whatever… I'll see what I can do in the morning._

* * *

He woke up to the smell of roasted berries. It was a mouth-watering aroma. Apparently everyone else smelt it too. He opened one eye and say up groggily. It was a dreamless sleep, like normal. But he awoke more exhausted than he normally did. Then again, he normally didn't sleep for more than an hour at a time. If he slept for more than a few hours, he always awoke more tired than before. It was the way his body was conditioned. Sleep wasn't a luxury he had grown up with. He stood up and saw almost everyone gathered around a fire in the middle. A hole had been cut into the roof to allow the smoke to escape. When he walked over, a plate of cooked berries awaited him. It was untouched, and everyone else seemed to be finishing up their meals.

"Good morning, Aaron! I hope you slept well!" Amber handed him the plate with a smile.

"Yeah… I did." This was weird. Nobody ever asked how he was doing. Or how he slept. Or cooked for him. And her conversation last night with Connor had really bothered him. Something about Temporal Guardians and Dialga. But he refrained from asking about it. If she had wanted to tell everyone, she wouldn't have talked to Connor in the middle of the night at a low whisper.

Instead, he nibbled on the end of an oran berry. As soon as he bit into it, his senses were overloaded with the amazing taste of the berries, unlike anything else he had eaten before.

Amber glanced over at him and suppressed a laugh. "Have you never had berries cooked before?"

"...Not like this… This is… the best thing I've ever tasted, I think."

"Thank you! It's not often I get to cook for others. This is a refreshing experience for me."

She said it with so much sincerity that he had to ask, "What about your friends? Do you guys not go everywhere together?"

"Oh. Well, no… We get together occasionally. But I never get to cook for them like this."

"Oh. To me, it seems like you guys have known each other for a really long time. I just figured..." He took another delicious bite. It tasted so good… Nothing like regular berries.

"Ah…" Amber fidgeted with her plate and looked to the ground nervously. He tilted his head, but didn't say anything. The female Sceptile placed a hand on her shoulder. "Amber, is something the matter?"

"...We have to tell them, Briar."

The Sceptile's eyes widened, and Amber said, "I've already decided. After yesterday..."

Briar seemed to think about it for a moment, almost seeming to be zoning out, then nodded. "I trust your judgement… Do what you think is right."

Aaron looked at the Machamp… Atlas, if he recalled correctly. He just picked at his plate with little interest. His eyes were bloodshot, probably from little sleep. If he had to guess, then most of these guys hadn't ever been put in a corner like this before. They'd probably always had the privilege of a good night's' sleep, plenty of food, working out to their heart's content… This was a huge wake-up call. People die. And there's nothing anyone can do about it.

Roy tilted his head slightly, apparently being the only one interested in the conversation. "Tell us what, Amber? I hope it's some good news?"

Amber shrugged and seemed to be forcing out every word. Whatever it was, she didn't want to say it. "It's both good... and bad, depending on how you take it."

Roy smiled and tilted his ghost-hat down. "Oh? Do tell! I always did love a good mystery!"

"Well… Team Firestorm... You're familiar with Lapras, correct? How she is a Temporal Guardian?"

They all nodded, one by one. Aaron had never heard that term before, except last night. "What is that, anyways?"

"Huh? What's what?" Connor asked.

"A Temporal Guardian?"

All of them stared at him incredulously, and he looked away while crossing his arms. "Sheesh… Sorry for asking."

Basileus stepped closer and extended his hand. "It's quite alright. A Temporal Guardian is one of twelve beings chosen by Dialga throughout the temporal web to protect time itself. In essence, we are his servants, granted a small percentage of his power. However, for even this many of us to be here, we have given up all but the smallest fraction of our own strength. It is the only way for us to exist at one point in time outside of the hall of origin. We follow whatever orders Dialga has given." The male sceptile knelt in front of Connor and Vulcan, pressed his hand across his chest and looked to the ground. "And our lord's orders were to save your team, by any means necessary."

Aaron arched an eyebrow at him. Was he serious right now? A bunch of completely random pokémon were chosen by Dialga to guard time? He'd believe that after they proved it. And what's with all the formality stuff? That Sceptile seemed more like a punk pokémon, with the eyepatch and all.

Celebi tilted her head at the display of respect. "Oh? Submission doesn't really suit you, Basileus!"

The Sceptile stood up and brushed off his knee. "These pokémon are the only mortals I deem worthy of my respect. I will treat them as equals for the time being. Now, Amber… Continue your explanation."

"Right… Ahem." She blinked rapidly and took a deep breath. "As you now know… Basileus is a Temporal Guardian."

Aaron scoffed silently. These guys were so full of it. _Why did I even join them? They're all crazy!_

"And I would like to inform you that he is not alone."

Everyone started whispering amongst themselves, and Aaron's interest turned on a dime. _Not alone…?_

Amber gestured to the rest of her group and took a deep breath before forcing the words out. "With the exception of… of _Grovyle_ and Dusknoir… We are all Temporal Guardians."

* * *

 **Oh. So that happened... I guess that was the big announcement that Amber had to say. But aside from that, Manaphy helped arrest the Gyarados! And Dawn doesn't like Aaron at all, but the question is why, if he's not evil?**

 **Another thing, if you're wondering why they were all in the Dark Future in my Grovyle Stories... It'll be explained in another story. As always, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Feel free to post any questions, comments, concerns and theories in the form of a Review or PM! I will see you all in the next update! Much Love!**

 **-PL**


	21. Blinded by the Darkness

**Surprise Chapter in celebration of having another reviewer person! (Chosenone1994) Enjoy!**

* * *

 **-Chapter XXI: Blinded by the Darkness-**

 **-Roy-**

 _Well then… What a way to start the day, Roy!_

After Amber's rather… surprising announcement, it went without saying that everyone lost their minds and began pestering the other group with questions.

 _Why didn't you do this?_

 _Why didn't you do that?_

 _Blah blah blah blah blah…_ He was already sick of it. He honestly didn't care. So what if they could control time? If they could change the course of history with a simple snap of their fingers, then all the better. But he was smarter than that. He knew that they were somewhat honest with them from the beginning. And he had 'overheard' Amber and Connor's conversation the previous night. They could have saved Alice if they really had to, but they chose not to. He was kind of upset, but at the same time, who knows what kind of issues could have been caused in time, had they decided to intervene? And it was kind of amusing to think that Galvantula and Tyranitar were Temporal Guardians as well. He didn't expect that at all.

Now, some of the others ( _Atlas and Jade)_ weren't so understanding. Jade nearly froze Amber then and there, but Caroline used aromatherapy to ease the tension in the room, much to his disappointment. He wanted to see just how much damage little miss sunshine could do against Amber.

 _Tsk, tsk! Why am I wanting to see a fight? That's so unlike me! Perhaps their stress is starting to rub off on me…_ He chastised himself and floated towards the back of the room.

 _Perhaps a morning float through the woods is in order… Maybe light a few shrubs on fire. Or scare some of the locals. I doubt they've seen a ghost like me before. It's not like I really care about all this 'temporal guardian' business anyways._

He was about to phase into the wall, when a weak psychic force grabbed hold of him, keeping him in place. He sighed as Dawn teleported in front of him. She had a disappointed expression on her face, which made him slightly upset.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm merely taking a morning stroll."

She shook her head in defiance. "Last time you 'took a stroll', you got kidnapped."

"I'll be more careful this time. Now we know what to expect. A Noivern and Ariados. I'll be fine."

"Roy… Please… if you're going out, just-" she stopped mid-sentence and turned to Briar. The Sceptile didn't notice Dawn's sudden attention, but Roy tilted his head slightly. "Hm? What's wrong?"

"Alice… She's alive."

"You're joking…" He stared at her, wide-eyed. Then he reached out with his spectral senses, hoping that she was right. He felt an energy surge identical to Alice's, and he instantly teared up. "No way…"

 **-Alice-**

"Where's Mordred?!" She held the Ariados against the wall, her newly evolved form giving her an unreal boost in power and speed.

The Ariados tried to claw at her arms, but she balanced on her now longer ears and kicked its stomach with so much force that its exoskeleton cracked with a sickening crunch. "Answer me!"

"H-How did you survive…?"

"I said answer me!"

The Ariados growled and took a deep breath, but Alice already knew that trick -Letting all of the air out of her lungs to loosen her grip- so she pressed harder. She felt its fear and astonishment like it was her own. But this Ariados was working for Mordred. So it didn't matter what happened to this bug-type.

"...I don't know."

Alice blinked heavily, but kept her iron grip on its neck. "How do you not know? This is his base, isn't it? That's why you were bringing me here!"

A wave of confusion emitted from her before she began laughing. "You think… Oh! Hm-hm-hm-ha-ha-ha! You actually- Gak!"

She pulled her fist back after jabbing the Ariados in the throat. "I don't feel like listening to your monologuing. Where's Mordred?"

"He fled when you used baton pass… That was really clever of you… But where did you keep your mega stone? And the Reviver seed? I checked your body for any signs of items that might have allowed you to survive..."

 _In the fur tufts on my legs, obviously!_ Alice thought to herself. But she glared at her unwaveringly. "I'm not telling you."

The Ariados smirked and sighed. "Alright… Flatline, can you stop fooling around please?"

Alice turned back to the cocoon of webbing just as the Noivern erupted from it. tearing the strings off while spitting out the strands that were in his mouth. "Ugh… What?"

He shook off his dazed expression and dashed towards her. She waited until the last second, then used baton pass, swapping their positions. The Noivern rammed full speed into the wall and Alice used high jump kick on it, knocking its head into the stone again. She used ice punch on its back as a follow-up, then froze both of them to the wall with Ice Beam.

"Stay down. Both of you."

She flinched as a quill embedded itself in her arm, but she pulled it out and stared at the Ariados. A new surge of fear came from the arthropod, and she set her hand ablaze. "I'm sick of you two already… You killed me once. Shame on me. You think you can kill me again? Not gonna happen."

She dashed forward, her hands sparkling with a crystalline fire.

 **-Roy-**

Dawn nodded and grinned wider by the second. "We've got to go get her! Roy, let's go!"

"Putting aside the fact that the energy signature is resonating from the same village where we got royally destroyed last time, how will we explain ourselves? What will you say? That Alice is alive? I know for a fact that the female Sceptile will try and ask us how we know for sure, where she is, blah blah blah, then try to formulate a plan with the best possible chance of success-"

"It'll work," Dawn said. "Trust me."

She floated over and shouted with telepathy. "HEY!"

Everyone got quiet and turned to her. She was grinning, so naturally Connor asked her what was so funny.

"Alice is alive."

Now, that got everyone's attention and drew them away from questioning the Insurgo. Atlas moved closer to her, and Connor had to push him back slightly. "How do you know?"

"I just… I just do! I can feel her energy from here!"

"But why couldn't you sense it before? You said she died," Amber countered.

"Um… I don't-"

"I believe her," Briar stated. Everyone now looked at her, and Dawn nodded slightly. "Before she left… What I told her in secret... I discussed with her what she was to do in case of an emergency. There is a very real possibility that she _is_ , as Dawn said, not dead."

Atlas' legs trembled and tears formed in his eyes. "I'm going to go get her. Dawn, where is she?"

"She's right in the heart of the village where we got slaughtered last week," Roy interjected. He hated to be a buzzkill like this, but it had to be said. Nobody else would be as straightforward with him. Dawn turned to face him. "Roy…?"

"If we send a rescue operation, it's just as likely to fail as the first time we fought them. It will result in more losses that we can't afford."

"We aren't just leaving her!" Atlas clenched his fists. "Just because you don't care about anyone on our team doesn't mean you can just leave them for dead! Not everyone's as carefree as you, Roy! Did you ever stop and think for a second that maybe we have feelings that go deeper than just as teammates?" He let out a mocking laugh. "Oh, that's right. 'Ghosts don't have feelings'."

"I'm not saying don't go rescue her-"

"That's exactly what you said!"

"Hey, lay off!" Dawn snapped at him. "He's just being real with you! Briar did the exact same thing before we sent them to scout the base!"

Atlas stared down at her. "Oh, so now you're defending him? Why? What did this pompous ghost ever do for you?"

"He's treated me like I'm normal! All of you have just tried to teach me how to suppress my power and act like it's a curse! He talks to me like I'm not just a freak! Maybe I didn't choose to be this strong! Ever thought about that?! Maybe I didn't want this!"

Atlas crossed his arms and scoffed. "Whatever."

His arms were enveloped in a pink aura, and he punched himself in the stomach against his will several times before Dusknoir intervened with a dark pulse to cut off the psychic connection. Dawn clenched her fists and shouted, "He's my best friend, and I won't let you talk to him like that!"

Amber shifted her pupils to Tyranitar, and he stood up. "Dawn, you need to calm down."

Her eyes glowed a brilliant blue, and Tyranitar was actually pushed back slightly by her psychic, which should have been impossible. "No! I won't calm down! You aren't in charge of me!"

Roy had half a mind to let her keep going. He'd never seen someone stand up to anyone like this. Especially Atlas, or any Tyranitar in general. And she was right, Atlas was being a jerk. But right now, no-one was acting like themselves. Dawn didn't know that. She didn't know them before all of this. Sure, reading memories helped, but she didn't actually interact with any of them. So the other half of his mind was made up.

"Dawn."

She gasped and turned back to him. He put on a smile and floated forward. "That's enough of that. Let's… let's take this outside, shall we?"

He formed a shadowy hand that extended from his robes, and she took hold of it. He phased into shadows, and once they were alone in the void, she pressed her head into his chest and sobbed. "I'm so sorry…"

He really didn't know how to react. She was apologizing for standing up for him? That didn't make much sense. "Um… It's alright Dawn. Really. He's not usually like that. It's just… these past few days have really changed us a lot. Everyone's on edge, so he doesn't mean most of the mean things he said."

She continued crying, her tears sparkling with a golden light in the shadow realm, bathing everything in a golden glow. He felt a disturbance in the shadow dimension, as if Dawn's very presence were agitating it, so he phased out of the nearest tree in treeshroud forest. He laid on the ground while Dawn gathered the willpower to stop sobbing.

"...Thank you, though."

She wiped her face after a sniffle. "Huh?"

"For standing up for me. You didn't have to do that."

"You're… welcome."

"But why did you do it?"

"Because you're my friend… And they sure don't treat you they way they should."

"...Like I said, they aren't normally like that. But Atlas did bring up an interesting point… What have I done for you to deserve so much affection? I've only known you for a little over two days... And most friendships are formed over the course of a few months, at least."

"You treat me like I'm normal."

"You're an absurdly powerful Ralts. What's so weird about that?"

She shook her head vigorously, as if she were debating something in her mind. Then she spoke without looking up. "...Roy… I know you can keep a secret."

"You know me too well." he replied with a smirk.

"Then you can't tell anyone else."

"You've got my word. I'll take it with me to the distortion world."

She took a deep breath and looked to the ground. "...I… I'm…"

He didn't say anything. She obviously needed to get this off of her chest.

"I'm blind. There. I said it..." She exhaled loudly and sighed with a hint of relief.

"...Oh." He hadn't really seen that coming. But now that he thought about it, not once had she opened her eyes, the entire time they'd been together. He just assumed that she preferred using her psychic. "Like, _blind_ , blind?"

"I know… I'm a freak, right?"

"Huh. So you are. But guess what? We're all freaks here, if you think about it. Not one of us is normal, or the same in any way. Vulcan's a flying fire-type that's beaten a son of Arceus on more than one occasion, Atlas is super strong and has a bit of a temper, Mirage is super fast and perky, Jade is super emotionless all the time, Alice had complete control over all emotions, which can be annoying, and Caroline… I haven't figured her out yet, but still, she's different. I have suspicions that she's from another reality, but I've been wrong before."

"None of them have any disabilities like me."

"Well, I'm dead. Does that count?"

She smiled slightly. "Of course not. You're a fully-functioning pokémon."

"Well… What about Connor? He's a superhuman-turned-pokémon that has amnesia, and he supposedly had a hole straight through his chest for two days!"

"A human? What's that?"

"It's… a complicated being. They're a species entirely separate from pokémon. I honestly don't know what they look like, but I presume that they look like a fighting-type. Just… with a skin tone similar to the sand in the northern desert, and long hair that flows similarly to a Kirlia's."

"They sound wonderful... I'd like to meet one some day."

"Perhaps you will."

She tilted her head at him, and he smiled slightly. "So now that your 'big secret' is out, can you open your eyes? At least for me?"

She shook her head slowly. "I… I can't…"

"Well, why not? We're best friends, remember? If we can't trust each other, then who can we trust? It's not like there's anyone here besides us."

She nervously smiled as her cheeks seemed to glow pink. "Alright…" Slowly, her eyes fluttered open, and he was stunned at what he saw. Her eyes weren't glazed over like he expected them to be. They were so vibrant… They glowed crimson and seemed to reflect everything around her. When he looked into her eyes, he saw his own reflection, much to his surprise. He had never seen himself before, since ghost-types' reflections didn't show up on any reflective surface. He internally gasped at what he saw. His hat had several holes in it, and his skin was covered in welts and bruises and burns. Not to mention his cape was practically torn to shreds.

 _Arceus, I look worse for wear… And I really do look like a girl… I thought others were just joking about my feminine appearance._

She smiled and let out a nervous laugh. "Well? How do I look?"

"I look marvelous, but you, on the other hand…" He smirked and Dawn playfully hit his side with a weak punch. "Shut up…"

He looked into her eyes further while she stared blankly at him. "You look lovely, Dawn." After a while of staying like that, he asked, "So why do you keep your eyes closed? It's not like they're a giveaway or anything."

"How am I supposed to know what my eyes look like?" She sounded sad as she said that, and he shrugged. "Um… I don't really know. Your common sense supercedes my own. I hadn't thought about that."

Her eyes widened, and he found himself smiling. "Your eyes are quite stunning, actually. I've never seen something so reflective." He noticed a faint marking in the pupil of her right eye… like a small wavy symbol. He barely recognized it, but it was so faint that he dismissed it without a second thought.

She blinked and looked away with a smile. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." Then a thought occurred in his head that made him question himself.

Dawn giggled and looked at him with endearing eyes. "You've got something to say?"

"I don't know… I'll have to ask Dusknoir, but… Ah, blast it all… It's a foolish idea." _What are these feelings…? Why do I feel so attached to her? I've only known her for two days. Don't get ahead of yourself, Roy. You're not friends yet. She might think you are, but don't give her false hope._

"Well, I want to hear your 'foolish idea'," Dawn replied with a small smile.

"I don't know… Alright, fine." Roy rolled his eyes playfully.

 **-Connor-**

"So what's her deal?" Vulcan asked him as they strode through the forest. They'd offered to go alone for this search. They'd be fine against anyone that decided to show their faces. Everyone in there didn't like how Dawn did that, and they figured that she'd only listen to him and Vulcan. So, naturally, they volunteered. They'd already talked to all of the Insurgo about them being Temporal Guardians, so they didn't bother thinking about it too much. Right now, finding Dawn and Roy was their top priority. While they were away, Briar had begun working with Jade and Basileus to put together the best team to go rescue Alice, since they probably haven't killed her yet.

"I don't know… But I think she might like Roy." Connor spoke with a hushed tone.

"Wait… like, _like_ like?"

"Well, maybe. She's really freakin' protective of him, which is weird. But she said friend, so… I don't know. She hasn't been on the team long enough for me to say anything for sure yet, and everyone's been way more snappy ever since the… yeah."

Vulcan nodded slowly and teared up. "I get it… She probably thought we always treated him like that."

"But that's not true," Connor finished. "Even though Roy could've been nicer about the way he said it, Atlas shouldn't have snapped like that. And I get that Alice just… y'know… And now we're saying that she's alive, but we can't go get her… That's why I'm giving him some space. Right now nobody is acting like themselves. Especially not Atlas."

"But we'll need to talk to Dawn about using her psychic to hurt her teammates."

"True… How do we do that, though? She blew up about how we're only trying to control her."

"But she doesn't know her own strength. She'll end up seriously hurting someone unless we teach her to control it." Vulcan said. Connor looked over his shoulder at his best friend and said, "She doesn't want to be controlled. She wants to be herself. That's what none of us understand. We fear what we can't control, so we've always made sure we were the most powerful ones on the team. But now, I think she is... or will be. But I don't think that she'd ever intentionally hurt any of us, unless we gave her a reason to."

"Like Atlas blowing up at Roy…" Vulcan speculated. "But still… What about when she evolves? Her psychic as a Gardevoir would be able to beat any pokémon! And with her magical bow, she'd be able to beat Dark-types without a problem! She might even be able to hold her own against the first Sons of Arceus!"

"I know. That's why we just… We need to treat her like any other member of the team. Because she is our friend, first of all. And she's been super useful on the team in these past couple days, and I think she'd be our most powerful member once she's evolved. And she's really sensitive to control and such."

Vulcan sighed and looked to the ground, dropping pretty far behind him, and Connor slowed down to let him catch up. "What's wrong, Vulcan? I mean, besides everything."

"...Can we bring them back? Any of them?"

Connor shrugged, fighting back the tears as he thought about his friends that had sacrificed themselves to rescue Vulcan. "...I don't know. Right now, all that's important is staying alive. We'll figure out the details later."

Vulcan grimaced and stopped walking. "Connor… I can't do this…"

"Huh? What're you talking about?"

"I killed them… It's my fault. If I hadn't been hypnotized into fighting you, we could have-"

"Okay, _stop_." Connor held out his hand, making Vulcan freeze mid-sentence. "Where the heck did that even come from? You know what, enough of that. I promise that it's not your fault. So stop it, alright?"

Tears rolled down his face as he stared at the ground. "Connor… This is one of those things you'll never understand… I knew what I was doing. It was like I was watching myself do it, but I couldn't stop… I… I was fully aware of what I did. I still am. I can never forgive myself… Connor, you don't know what it's like to watch yourself destroy your friends and have no control. So don't tell me that it's not my fault… _Please._ "

He stared at Vulcan with about as much shock as you could have. _He's been carrying that burden the whole time?! I thought it was, like, a coma or something!_

"Vulcan… I didn't know…"

"Yeah," He cried. "No one did."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Connor questioned. He wasn't angry. Just concerned for his friend.

"Because… I couldn't bring myself to talk about it… It hurts, Connor… It hurts so much..." He burst into tears and fell to his knees, draping his wings over his back like an orange and blue cape.

Connor embraced him and nearly cried with him. "Vulcan… I'm here… I promise, I'll never leave you, alright? You're my best friend. Whatever I can do… I'll do it."

* * *

 **Alright guys, I hope you enjoyed! This was a bonus chapter because I was feeling generous! Don't hate me for completely grazing over the whole Temporal Guardian thing. It'll all come together later, I promise. Quick question for those of you that read this stuff: Who is your favorite otp shipping? (Canon or non-canon, doesn't matter) If you want to answer, go ahead, and if you have any questions, comments, concerns or theories, feel free to leave them in the form of a Review or PM! Much Love!**

 **-PL**


	22. From the Ashes We Rise

**-Chapter XXII: From The Ashes We Rise-**

 **-Roy-**

"Roy… How will you do that?"

"I don't know… I don't even know if it's possible, but I will try my best, and if it can be done, I will find a way to do it."

"Well… Thanks... So... your past. You don't remember it at all?" Dawn stared at him, and he shook his head. "I'd be lying if I said I remembered anything more than brief flashbacks... I remember glimpses of it here and there… I remember pain, and a flash of light followed by an ear-shattering noise… And a voice… but that's it."

"Oh… I'm sorry…"

"There's nothing to apologize for," Roy said. "After all, I was probably dead long before any of you were born."

"Oh…" She looked to the ground and seemed to be deep in thought. He observed her while she blinked heavily and shivered slightly. "It got cold really fast…"

"I guess it is wintertime, huh? I never really cared about the cold that much. I don't have much of a body to be affected by it." He smiled and floated upwards. "But it _is_ something I can fix."

He used psychic to gather a pile of foliage and twigs into one stack, then used mystical fire, shooting the scarlet flames out of his mouth, igniting the debris almost instantaneously. The fire grew until it was about five feet tall, and he pulled small shrubs out of the forest floor and threw them into the flames. Dawn scooted closer to the fire and used psychic to form a chair out of the earth. She eased herself into it, and Roy floated in front of the flames. He wasn't sensitive to heat or cold, so he could live anywhere without much of a problem. Although, pokémon moves seemed to affect him no matter what.

"Roy…"

"Yes?"

She flinched and quickly said, "Nothing. Sorry…"

He looked down at her, and she was blushing a lot. And it wasn't a psychic hue. He immediately realized what was going on, and decided he had to put an end to this before she got hurt.

"Dawn… Listen… I… I can't-"

"What's this?" A new voice echoed throughout the woods as the trees began to darken, the sun disappearing behind a thickening cloud cover. "Star-crossed lovers? Hm-hm-hm-ha-ha-ha… Ha-ha-HA-HA-HA! Oh, how amusing!"

Dawn stood up and raised her arm. "Who's there?!"

"Oh… I didn't anticipate this… It looks like our little Roy has a guardian…" A flash of purple caught his eye, and he tackled Dawn to the side while a pillar of indigo flames shot past, melting the ground itself into a pool of spectral magma. "Leave her out of this, whoever you are!"

"Oh… You see… I can't. She's with you, so boo-hoo, she's caught in the crossfire! Instead of whining about it, tell me... where is this Dusknoir I've heard so much about?"

"I… I don't know what you're talking about."

The purple light flickered to his left, and the voice snickered. "Hee-hee-hee-hm-hm-ha! You might have been able to fool Widow and Flatline… But you're not fooling me. You're Roy, without a doubt. Your soul smells splendid… Much stronger and more unique than any other I've felt in a while."

"That's creepy. And… who are you?"

"Most call me Soulburner." the purple flame multiplied until there were four smaller ones surrounding a larger light in the center, followed by the shadows cast by the lights condensing into a Chandelure. "So you can call me that in the little time you have left to roam this world."

Dawn kept her eyes closed as she looked in the Chandelure's general direction. "Roy, what species is it?"

"A Chandelure…" _Can she not sense him?_

"Oh! _You're_ the Ralts everyone's been talking about? I've heard much about you! You're strong, girl… You could easily be the Alpha. But sadly, I don't think you can see me, since you just asked what species I was… Only your friend can, which makes it even sweeter when you watch him burn in front of your very eyes! Hm-hee-hee-ha-ha-ha!"

The Chandelure floated closer, and Roy found himself entranced by the flickering lights. He floated closer and closer, and the Chandelure stared at him with an amused, crooked smile. "My, oh my… You're still just a baby, aren't you? Drawn in so easily… This is almost no fun!"

Roy couldn't talk, in spite of himself. Everything around him faded away. All he could see was the light from the flames, drawing him in like a vacuum. They seemed to glow brighter and brighter until it was blinding to look at. As soon as he turned away, his entire being began burning away. He screamed in pain as the purple flames swirled around him. "You're going to burn… Your soul is unfit to be roaming this world! You're nothing but a husk of your former self, driven by malice and hatred, fueled by revenge and fear! But don't worry… It'll all be over soon!"

 _Is this how it ends? Am I really going out like this?_

Then a psychic blade of energy sliced through the air, blowing away the flames and slicing one of the Chandelure's limbs off. Roy fell to the ground, smoke spewing from his body. He groaned in pain while Dawn held his head in her arms. She stared into his eyes with her own, and he felt his vision fading in and out. He couldn't hear anything… Not even ringing in his ears.

Dawn looked behind him, and when he looked, he saw the Chandelure fly backwards after a blast of dark energy. A Sableye leapt over them and shimmied up a tree faster than he could follow. It leapt off of the branch towards Soulburner, and while the Chandelure was occupied with it, a Gardevoir blasted it with a moonblast attack, knocking it to the ground with hundreds of rays of pink light. It shot a fire blast at the Gardevoir, but an Alakazam teleported in front of her and caught the fireball with psychic and dissipated the flames. The Sableye leapt onto the Chandelure's face and used night slash, leaving a massive gash between its eyes. It shook the Sableye off and used fire spin, coating itself in flames, but before he could launch it, a Gengar leapt out of the shadow realm, dove through the flames and tackled the Chandelure out of midair. The shadows around the forest condensed around the Gengar's fist, and a giant shadowy hand smashed the Chandelure into the ground, then grabbed it by its head and held it at eye level with the Gardevoir.

Then his hearing returned just in time to hear the Gardevoir speak. "Samantha of Team Blackmist. Soulburner, you are under arrest for the murder of thirty-four pokémon, breaking out of a maximum security chamber in Magnezone's prison, and resisting arrest on seven different occasions. Once these charges are made official by the chief of police, you will be faced with execution by psychic warping."

Soulburner growled and erupted into flames, but the Alakazam formed a psychic bubble that contained the swirling fire. It resolidified into the Chandelure, and he scowled. "Awh… And to think I was just getting warmed up… Come on guys! Give me a twenty minute head-start! I wasn't ready to face any big teams yet! I need to eat breakfast!"

The Sableye appeared in front of Roy and held out its hand in a submissive gesture. "Spencer th' sableye, at yer service!"

Roy floated upwards and narrowed his eyes at the Sableye. "Um… Thank you… But… Who are you, exactly?"

"We're Team Blackmist," the Gengar walked out of the shadows with a wicked grin, enshrouded in a thick black fog that covered the ground up to Dawn's neck.

"Ah. What a fitting name." Roy used flash to lift the black cloud that washed over them, but it did nothing.

 _And I am Alex._

The fog parted slightly, and the Alakazam levitated in front of them. _And who might you be?_

"Well… Hi. I'm Roy, and this is-"

"Dawn… We've heard much about you..." the Gardevoir from earlier appeared, and the fog dissipated entirely. Her very aura filled the air with an atmosphere that made his spectral skin crackle with energy. This psychic-type was strong. Possibly as strong as Dawn.

Dawn clenched her fists and moved closer to him. "What do you want?"

"We are here to apprehend soulburner. He had recently escaped from Magnezone's prison, so we were sent to capture him."

"Oh." Dawn looked to the ground, and Spencer crouched lower, until he was at eye-level with her. "We cud al' fale de energy comin' aff av yer. nigh, oi don't necessarily nu 'oy strong yer are, but we cud alwus use another member loike yerself-" (AN: Spencer has a thick scottish accent)

"No." Dawn spoke with a renewed confidence. "I'm not leaving my team."

Roy tilted his head at her. "You can understand him?"

"You mean you're already on a team?" The Gardevoir seemed surprised. "I didn't know… Forgive us. We assumed that you were just another victim of this wretched pokémon's heinous crimes."

"It's alright."

"Just out of curiosity," the Gengar crossed his arms and stared at Roy. "Why are you with a ghost-type? Unless you two are a team?"

"We're-"

"They're with us." Connor dropped out of the sky, landing on the ground with a heavy thud, and the other team stepped back slightly. "You're-!"

"Yeah… I'm Connor, leader of Team Firestorm. And these two are a part of my team."

Then Vulcan dropped out of the sky next to him. "Who are you?"

"We're… We're team Blackmist. We have heard many great things about you," the Gardevoir began. "But… Why are you all the way out here? And not in a mystery dungeon?"

"That's classified information," Connor said. The Gardevoir's eyes flashed dimly for a moment before she tilted her head in confusion.

"Not reading minds is common courtesy," Dawn said. She looked in the Gardevoir's general direction. "No honorable psychic type should ever read minds on purpose without permission."

"Yes… Forgive me. I got ahead of myself. My curiosity often gets the best of me."

Connor shrugged and replied, "No problem. So what kind of team are you supposed to be? Bounty hunters? Explorers? Outlaw seekers?"

"We merely offer our assistance to the chief of police when he requires it," Samantha replied. "Nothing more, nothing less."

"So you're like Magnezone's go-to team?" Connor questioned.

"I thought we were his go-to team..." Vulcan shifted his gaze between the other team's pokémon. "Say, how come we've never heard of you guys?"

"We're a team that stays in the shadows, under the cover of darkness," the Gengar cackled. "Magnezone likes to keep it that way with us, since everybody else seems to get caught in the crossfire between your team and whatever has you guys running. Now, we like you guys. And if we could, we'd help you out in every way we can."

"But…" Samantha cut him off. "We have prior commitments. Now, if our paths cross again and our duties permit, of course we'll lend our assistance. But until then… Farewell, team Firestorm."

The Gengar and Sableye vanished into the shadows, and the Gardevoir and Alakazam vanished in a flash of light, along with the Chandelure.

"Roy…" Connor began, and he rolled his eyes slightly. "I know, I know…"

"Who were they?" Vulcan placed his hand on his chin, and Dawn shuddered. "That Gardevoir…"

Roy turned back to her briefly. "Don't tell me she's your mother. That's just horrible timing, and way to cliché."

"No. She's not… I've never met any of them in my life. But…" She shook her head and stood up. "Connor… Let's go home."

His eyes sparked with a strange energy, but he nodded in agreement. "Okay… But before we do, you need to promise me… that you'll apologize for the whole thing with Atlas. Even if you don't want to, the rest of the team is angry with you for it, so if you just apologize, it'll help."

"...I will. I promise."

"Good. Then let's go."

 **-Amber-**

She examined the plan twice more. Briar had explained it several times, but Amber was just as skeptical as the Sceptile. If she was, in fact, being held captive in the same village as Vulcan was previously, they could expect the same amount of resistance. And that would be very bad, considering the amount of loss that was endured previously.

"Briar… I seriously don't think it's wise to do this."

Briar stared at the map wordlessly. Then everything around them slowed to a halt and turned a dull shade of grey. Briar looked into her eyes with her own, a light turquoise glow resonating from her irises. "Amber… I know she will be fine. I've given her the Lopunny stone. The one required for 'mega evolution'. With her newfound power, she will have the ability to overcome nearly any opposition long enough for us to get to her."

Amber looked around at everyone stopped mid-conversation, and shook her head slowly. "Briar… Can you please…?"

"Ah, yes. Of course." Her eyes dimmed, and time returned to normal. Amber sighed and looked at the map again.

"So… We're doing it anyways, aren't we?"

"It's our duty to protect them, is it not? That Machamp will attempt to go regardless of our orders, so we must prepare for the worst. I have already given Tyranitar and Galvantula full leave to do whatever they wish, aside from Tyranitar's outrage and earthquake."

Amber nodded as the realization set in. "Then we win… right?"

Briar shook her head slowly. "I don't believe it will be that easy…"

"Why not?" Amber asked. "Tyranitar has beaten other Alphas before. He might even be one of the strongest!"

"Basileus can beat him."

Amber nearly laughed. "Putting Basileus in the same category as any other fighter is an insult to him!"

Briar shrugged. "Until this point, Team Firestorm thought they were the strongest. They had an all-powerful human turned Swampert on their team. Even with help from two other teams, they lost. The same could happen to us. Just because you're the best for a brief period of time doesn't mean that there aren't others out there that are better. It is a constant fight to stay the best."

"That doesn't count. Vulcan was turned against them!"

"And what if one of our own suffer the same fate? Do you have what it takes to take them down?"

"Of… Of course."

"Even Tyranitar? Or Grovyle?"

Amber hesitated. She could take them in a fight, but if it really came down to it, could she finish the job?

Briar looked at Amber again. "That is where I differ from every other Temporal Guardian. I have a contingency plan for every one of you, should something happen."

"Even your son and mate?!" Amber nearly shouted.

"...Yes. You remember what happened in the future before we came here."

"Yes... I do."

They had been sworn to secrecy about the events of the restored future. They could refer to it amongst themselves, but no others were allowed to know.

"But still… Why? Who could possibly make one of our own turn against us? And Dialga has foreseen everything throughout all of time. He would never choose a pokémon that could turn so easily!"

"So you're saying it's impossible."

"Yes! None of us can be captured, and even if we were, we could escape without a problem!"

A short laugh was Briar's initial response. "Nothing is impossible, Amber. We are regular beings that were given power comparable to Mew, the mother of all pokémon. Two Sceptiles, a Tyranitar, Galvantula, Celebi, Lapras, a Wigglytuff… a human. We can all control the flow of time itself. On top of that, Connor, a human from Terra, the apprentice of the one responsible for the collapse of Temporal Tower, stopped the destruction of time by fighting the deity of time itself after having amnesia inflicted upon him by Darkrai, his previous master, then proceeded to defeat Darkrai, banishing him to Concordia, where this previously wicked pokémon proceeded to save an entire human town from the wrath of Palkia and Dialga in an entirely separate reality in the cosmic web. This team's leader alone has done the impossible more times than any other individual in Varius' history."

Amber's eyes widened as she tried to argue, but was at a loss for words. "But… We're-"

Briar pat her back with a gentle smile. "It's alright, child… Even Dialga can't foresee everything. Then there would be no mystery in the world. Without mystery, there would be no problems that weren't foreseen, and in turn, there would be no need for us to resolve them. It is because of the evil in the world that there is a need for us at all."

Amber pointed at the map again, trying to get back on topic. "So we break in there, get her out, come back?"

"...Yes. If you want to explain it to a two-year-old magikarp."

Amber sighed and looked around at the other pokémon talking around them. Atlas was lifting boulders over his head without breaking a sweat, while Jade was floating in the corner, appearing to be meditating. Caroline and Mirage were conversating about something else, and when Amber shifted her gaze over Grovyle and Celebi, they had vanished. _Hm? Where…?_

She dismissed the thought after a moment. _They're fine. Nothing can hurt them._

"Hey everybody, we're back!" Celebi flew through the door, followed closely by Grovyle, walking side-by-side with Connor and Vulcan. Dawn and Roy were just behind them, and Amber smiled. "Grovyle, you didn't tell me that you went with them."

"Oh… We didn't. Celebi and I saw them on our way back."

"Back from where?"

"From the forest. We were scouting areas that were suitable for sitrus berries. They require a very specific soil." Grovyle replied without hesitation. Briar narrowed her eyes, but turned back to her map. "If you six are done loitering, come have a look at our plan."

They all moved closer, and Briar explained the plan again to them.

"...And that's the overall idea. Can you do it?"

"Yeah, of course," Connor replied.

 **-Alice-**

"Hmph. So you're Alice…? I must say, you're much more impressive in person…"

A Honchkrow was standing in front of her as she was chained to the wall by the Banette. Apparently the Ariados she had fought was a Substitute clone, so when she rushed forward, she was ensnared by the explosion of webbing caused by the clone when it 'died'. And that quill had some late-acting venom on it that made her faint shortly afterwards.

She strained against the chains, but without her mega stone, she couldn't even think straight anymore. It was like that stone gave her a new perception of fighting that she only had while mega evolved. The Honchkrow laughed and moved closer to her. He smelled somewhat nice, in spite of his rough exterior appearance. "You're a lovely specimen, to say the least… I'll admit, you really gave me a scare when Widow opened the cocoon. I thought that they were trying to ambush me at first! But I knew better, of course."

"What do you want with me?" Alice was too scared to use Attract. The effectiveness of her emotional manipulation depended on how confident she was at the moment. Right now, she could die at any second. Mordred was right behind the Honchkrow, and he didn't look happy.

"Oh… Nothing much. Originally I wanted you all killed. But I've had to reconsider for you. You're much more valuable to me while you're alive."

Widow, the Ariados hissed, "Our payment is still valid, correct?"

"Of course," The Honchkrow replied. "Our agreement was that I needed them eliminated. This will suffice for now."

Alice was freaking out. What did he have to gain from her being alive? The Honchkrow waved the Ariados off. "Now, go… You may kill them if you wish. This is the one I wanted."

The Ariados nodded and left the chamber. The Honchkrow smirked and stared into her eyes. "Such lovely eyes… Yes, you'll sell for a high price."

"What? What are you talking about?"

"There are plenty of pokémon out there that are much worse than murderers… Now, those kinds of things aren't my taste. Otherwise I'd keep you for myself. But I prefer running things without all the perverseness. "

Mordred looked visibly disgusted, and Alice used that to get to him. She activated attract and smiled charmingly. "Mordred… What's wrong?"

He regained his stoic expression on a dime. "Shut up."

That response shocked her, and the Honchkrow smirked. "Yes, your charmed speaking doesn't work in this room. It's had several spells cast over it, negating most special moves, including that other Charizard's incantation-casting. Transforming, charmed speaking, flying with telekinesis… none of it works."

She pulled against the chains once more, but nothing happened. Mordred sighed and looked at the other pokémon. "Master-"

"Master Victor!" Nagini, that Seviper from team Virus, she remembered, slithered into the chamber.

Victor growled and used air slash on the snake, blasting it backwards with a blade of wind. "Nagini, please refrain from using my name in front of guests."

"Y-Yes, sir… I forgot-"

"Now why are you here?"

"I… I'm here for the prisoner."

"On whose authority?"

"Team Blackmist wishes to exchange Soulburner for her."

Victor seemed perplexed and angry at the same time. "Why are you even considering this offer? And without consulting me first?"

"...S-Sir, Soulburner is one of our most powerful-"

"If he was able to be captured, he must not have been trying. He cannot do that with Roy and Dusknoir. And as such, he has no value to us as a token of leverage. However, I believe that I gave you a direct order to find him, did I not?"

The Seviper bared its fangs and hissed quietly, but Mordred stepped between them, "Is there a problem, snake?"

"...No… Not at all. Apologies, master."

Then the entire room rumbled, and Nagini looked around nervously. "M-Master Victor… They're here."

"Team Firestorm?"

The Seviper nodded, and the Honchkrow looked at Mordred. "Take care of this, please. I'm tired of all these complications. And actually try this time. Goodness."

Nagini slowly slithered up to her as Mordred left the building, and Victor stared at him. "...What are you doing?"

Alice stared into his eyes, one of them glazed over, with a long, pale section of skin running diagonally down it. Then, they softened to a pair of familiar green eyes. She tilted her head, trying to make sure she saw them right. He winked and looked back at Victor, the cold, snake-like eyes returning. "Her beauty drew me in uncontrollably. Forgive me, master. It will not happen again."

"You're excused."

"Boss!"

Victor's eyes widened. "...Nagini?" Alice saw another Seviper snake into the chamber, and her confusion rose to a new all-time high. "Team Firestorm. But this time they brought several new allies."

Victor and Alice both looked back and forth between the two identical Sevipers. The second one noticed after several seconds, and the first one leaned in to Alice. "If you want to live… Follow my lead. We're helpless in this room."

He straightened his body out and smirked. "Ah… My impostor finally shows himself."

"What?!" The other Seviper stared at him in shock. "Master Victor, that isn't me! I mean- That's-"

"Change of plans, actually! Heh. Sorry Alice… I didn't expect him to show up." He smiled and puffed out his chest. "Vincent the Seviper, at your service! Now tell me, boys... How does it feel to get played like a bunch of chumps?"

The first Seviper sliced her bonds with his tail blade, and Alice smiled uncontrollably. She teared up, and Vincent, as a Seviper, handed her her mega stone, the band it was wrapped in dangling from his tail blade. "Here. We're gonna need this. My cover's kind of blown now."

* * *

 **Bam! That just happened! We've got a new team on the playing field, as well as a Chandelure! And Vincent's alive, apparently! Who would've guessed that? Alright guys, I hope your monday is going well, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Feel free to leave any questions, comments, concerns and theories about what might happen in the form of a Review or PM! Much Love!**

 **-PL**


	23. Try As You Might

**-Chapter XXIII: Try As You Might-**

 **-Connor-**

 _Well… So much for stealth…_

As he sailed through the air, he grabbed hold of his mega stone and was enveloped in a purple sphere of light. His body grew larger, his arms elongating and becoming much more muscular, and he slammed into the ground with earthquake, collapsing every building within a three hundred yard radius. The ground around him rippled like the ocean, the very earth swallowing the intricately made wooden huts and tents, as well as many pokémon, buried in the shifting earth.

He turned his attention to the nearest pokémon still standing. An Abomasnow, it looked like. He smirked and readied focus blast, holding the orange sphere of energy in one outstretched hand. "Tell me… What is your name?"

"My name is Masaru… I see that you are the alpha Swampert."

"Nah. Just a human-turned-pokémon."

His eyes widened slightly, but he stifled a laugh. "Hmph. So Team Firestorm's leader is a liar, as well as foolish… You mean to tell me that you came here by yourself? And better yet, thought you could win?"

"Of course. I don't do something if I don't think I can succeed."

"I see." The Abomasnow smirked and slammed his fist on his chest like a drum. "Then allow me to show you my power!"

 ***Flashback***

"Briar, are you sure-?"

"This plan has the highest chance of success. Connor, you will ride into the heart of the village using Ancient Power..." She pointed to the center of the drawn-out map. "You will mega-evolve in mid-air, then use earthquake as you land on the ground, drawing all attention in the base directly to you."

He stared at her incredulously. "And what happens then? I have every pokémon's attention on me! I can't fight them all at once!"

"Who said you have to?" Briar questioned. "We will be there shortly afterwards. Grovyle first, followed by Basileus. Any threats posed will be nullified by these two."

"So who's going to get Alice?"

"That will be Tyranitar's duty, as well as… Galvantula's."

At the mention of his name, he sat straight up as an electro-ball detonated behind him. "What? Me?"

"Yes. You are the primary hostage-rescuer, correct?"

"I am? I mean, yes! I am! Totally!"

Connor did a mental face-palm. _Galvantula really doesn't seem like the type to be a Temporal Guardian…_

"Oh, but I am. You see, it's one of those things where I'm lowkey a kick-butt master. I just like having fun, that's all." Galvantula grinned.

Grovyle smiled and nodded slowly. "Amber... You can tell him now. I think it's a good time."

It took a second for him to put the pieces together, and when he did, his jaw dropped. "No way… Grovyle… You're-?!"

He nodded and did a bow with his hands spread out. "Yes. I am the Twelfth and final Temporal Guardian."

 ***Reality***

As the Abomasnow said this, the wind picked up around him as snow began falling. Connor narrowed his eyes and gasped as the Abomasnow was surrounded by the same purple sphere of light. When it shattered, he was absolutely massive. Easily ten feet tall, and just as long, on all fours, being much more bulky, resembling a wall of white and green fur. Pillars of ice sprouted from his back, and they pulsed white, the pure glow washing over the now dimming sun. Connor felt a tap on his shoulder, and when he looked, a chunk of ice the size of an oran berry bounced off of the ground. He looked up to see a swirling maelstrom of ice forming above him, completely blocking out the sun. As more and more ice chunks fell, the village was torn further and further apart by the baseball sized hailstones. Connor shrugged and called out to him. "Are you sure Mordred is alright with you wrecking this place any more than it already is?"

The Abomasnow laughed. "Oh, don't worry. We have others that can clean this up in a matter of minutes. Right now, it's you and me… No holds barred!"  
Connor smirked, then flinched as a hailstone as big as an oran berry fell right in front of him. _Oh… This is bad._

The Abomasnow rushed forward with astonishing speed. Connor tossed the Focus Blast in the air, then hit it with a power-up punch, sending it hurtling towards the ice-and-grass type. Connor stared at the smoke while it dissipated, but much to his surprise, the Abomasnow barreled through, not even affected. He gasped and stumbled backwards. _That was a focus blast! How did he shrug that off like it was nothing?!_

"That would be because he's the alpha Abomasnow." Grovyle knelt next to him, and time seemed to slow to a halt as Basileus walked out from behind the debris of the nearest building.

Connor stared at the Abomasnow that was frozen in time, then diverted his gaze to the countless hailstones in the air, devoid of movement.

Grovyle whistled quietly. "These are some big hailstones… You're lucky you're so thick-skinned, otherwise this hailstorm would beat you unconscious in seconds."

"Why are you telling me this, Grovyle? I already know about the Alphas, and mega-evolution!"

"I am telling you to let us handle this. And please use rain dance to clear up this hail."

 _Us…?_

Grovyle stood up and turned to his father. "Now, please."

Basileus' eyes flashed turquoise, and the entire landscape unfroze. Hail began falling, and Grovyle immediately formed a giant fist out of vines that erupted from the ground and stopped the Abomasnow cold in its tracks. He smiled and turned to Connor as a hailstone the size of his head fell inches from his face. "Can you please hurry with that?"

"R-Right!" He still had trouble processing this… Grovyle had been a Temporal Guardian the entire time. But what he told him back at he forest base…

 ***Flashback***

"Are you serious?"

"Yes… I'm guessing this comes as quite the shock to you and your team… Well, those that knew me before, that is."

"Yes, it is! How long have you been a Temporal Guardian?!"

"After our future became one of light. In that world... I thought our lives were over. Celebi's… Mine… I was just a normal pokémon, trying to do the right thing. But I knew that if I disappeared that day… That surely my memories would live on with you two."

Dusknoir grunted in agreement, and Grovyle smiled, "After I brought Dusknoir to the future with me… We were attacked by Sableye."

"We? You mean, you and him both?"

"Yes. After his second failure, Dialga sought to eliminate us both. So we joined forces and fought the lord of time itself, in his primal rage. It took us a long while… But Celebi can confirm it."

The pink fairy floated forward nervously, but put on a brave smile. "You and Vulcan fought Dialga at the same moment as Grovyle and Dusknoir, four hundred and seventeen years apart… Your joined efforts across two different time periods allowed you both to succeed in your missions."

Connor nearly collapsed from that statement. "So… Even separated by time, our victories were tied together…"

"Furthermore, after restoring time… Dialga was restored to his rightful self. When we asked him about what happened… He never gave a straight answer. He always said that 'time was not a fluid thing, it was a solid construct, the overseer of all things'… Then Dusknoir and I… We travelled from the Hidden Land, back to Immanis. We journeyed together for months. Then, one day, Dialga came to me. and he told me… that he was proud of me. In spite of everything I'd been through… I had been willing to sacrifice everything to restore the balance of time. He… He offered me a position as the Twelfth and Final Temporal Guardian."

"So you accepted…"

He nodded slowly. "Yes. I gained partial immortality, control over time itself… As well as an enormous responsibility for each branch of reality that involves my alternate selves."

"Alternate… what? There's more than one of you?"

"Of course. My mother explained the temporal web to you in the form of a tree. Your branch of reality… That is, the one where you, Connor, a human, travel back in time with mine and Celebi's help… That is one of many nearly identical realities."

"What's that supposed to mean? This Temporal Guardian stuff is confusing."

"There are other teams just like yours… With different pokémon, of course. One team with a human named Rio is a good example. (1) He transformed into a Riolu and was aided by a Meowth from Concordia, in opposition to you turning into a Mudkip and Vulcan, a pokémon native to Varius, aiding you. Team Righteous… Their story is nearly identical to yours, up until recent events. A human from the future washes ashore on a beach, transformed into a pokémon. They have no memories other than their names. Then, their fated partner finds them unconscious on the beach. They have a relic fragment that ties directly to stopping the destruction of time, each one acquiring it in a different way. Vulcan obtained his from his father. Another reality is that the partner found it by chance. Team Skull, the Time Gears, Wigglytuff's guild… Everything is the same, other than how you handle yourselves in each of those scenarios."

"I… Grovyle… How can you bear knowing so much…?"

"It was one of the many things I accepted in exchange for this position. Connor, this is one of the highest honors you can receive as a regular being. I was willing to sacrifice everything to disappear from existence. So, I was also willing to give my new life to Dialga and serve to the best of my abilities."

He took a moment to clear his thoughts. This information was too much to think about at once. "So… There are other Grovyles that travelled to the past with a human partner?"

"Essentially, yes. However, I am the only one that is a Temporal Guardian."

"But how? If every Grovyle did the same thing as you-"

"My story is different with every branch of reality as well… In one, I am a slave, in another, I meet the Insurgo. In one, I was a brother to Dusknoir, fated to become enemies after Dialga took us both in as his apprentices. In another, he and I have been sworn enemies as long as we've known each other. And there was even one in which Dusknoir was a double spy. An agent sent by us to serve as Dialga's right hand and acquire information. I don't claim to know why Dialga chose me out of all of my counterparts, but-"

"It's because of your parents." Amber spoke up.

Connor hadn't noticed, but everything around them was frozen in time. Nobody else was moving. Amber had just started moving, and Grovyle tilted his head and sighed. "Is that it? Goodness, why didn't I think of that? Both of my parents are Temporal Guardians, so that makes sense. My alternate selves' parents are different in every other reality, too."

Connor looked around at everybody frozen in time, and shook his head slowly. "This is weird…"

"It certainly took me long enough to figure out that you were talking to him, Grovyle." Amber stared at him with an unamused glare.

"Why did you lie, Amber?" Connor asked.

Grovyle smiled and stood up. "Because I asked her to. Please don't be angry... I didn't want you to think of me any different until the time was right."

 ***Reality***

The rain was intense now. Connor could see fairly clearly due to his typing and ability, but the Abomasnow was struggling. He saw flashes of green and red, moving as fast as the light itself. The Abomasnow roared in defiance and used blizzard, blasting away the pouring rain and freezing Grovyle and Basileus solid. The Abomasnow reared up, about to crush their frozen silhouettes, and Connor planted his hands in the ground, preparing the most powerful water-type move: Hydro Cannon. The torrent of water rushed from his mouth, blasting the Abomasnow through an entire row of tents and buildings. He caught his breath after the attack and nearly collapsed. That was seriously an exhausting move.

After a moment, he saw Basileus' icy prison become enveloped in a purple sphere, then shatter, sending ice shards everywhere and making Connor shield his eyes with his arm. When he looked back, Basileus was a full foot taller and had a much longer tail. His leaf blades on his arms were longer, and he had several red stripes, as well as more prominent ridges and pointed fins on his face and shoulders. He shook the ice off of him and looked at Connor. "Stand back, please…"

Connor did as instructed, and Basileus was enveloped in a blue glow. He radiated so much pure heat and energy that it could compare to Vulcan's flamethrower, which was incredible for a grass-type. The ice around Grovyle instantly melted, and Basileus de-evolved after assessing the situation silently.

Grovyle shrugged and shuddered once. "How did he hit us?"

"I'd presume it's because we approached this opponent with overconfidence. Regardless, let's find Alice." he turned to Connor and glanced into the village. "This is unnaturally exciting for me. Let's find out what other challenges await us."

 **-Alice-**

Vincent laughed nervously as Victor and Nagini closed in at an alarming pace. Alice grasped the Mega stone and closed her eyes, but she was unable to evolve for some reason. _The incantations over the room… That works for mega evolution?_

Vincent turned into a Smeargle and closed his fists. "Come on, guys… Can't we work this out?"

Nagini snaked across the ground and coiled up, preparing to strike. Vincent sighed and said, "Alright, fine. You got us…"

Victor stayed back while Nagini moved closer, and at the last second, Vincent smirked. "Psych!" He opened his hands and close to a hundred oran-berry sized purple orbs of energy bounced around the room almost faster than the eye could follow. Once they hit Nagini, he was enveloped in an indigo sphere and collapsed to the ground, sound asleep. Victor dodged the first few projectiles, but eventually he was hit, and the attack had the same result.

"Let's move, Alice! This isn't going to keep them for long!" Vincent grabbed her hand and ran through the entrance, then transformed into Nagini again. "I can't transform out of Smeargle form in that room. But I can transform into myself for some reason..."

Alice walked beside him, doing her best to look scared, which wasn't very hard. "Since when did you know that move?! That's amazing!"

"I picked it up from Darkrai back when I kicked his butt as a Hariyama. I didn't know how to use it at first, since it takes some practice, but I'll tell you what, it's freakin' sweet once you do know how to use it." Vincent whispered as he slithered through the crowd of pokémon.

A Krookodile walked in front of him, and he snapped at him, getting into the role as the Seviper. "Move! I'm transporting the prisoner per master Victor's orders!" He eyed a storm forming overhead about a kilometer to the west, and Vincent nodded. He leaned close to her and whispered, "I'm gonna lure them off. That storm cloud looks suspicious."

He looked at the gathering of pokémon and called out, "Alright, make yourselves useful and go see what that commotion is! I bet it's team Firestorm, come to reclaim their teammate! No doubt they've got new allies! And I heard Master Victor is paying thirty thousand a head to whoever kills them!"

The mafia members ran off with a cheer, and Vincent winked. "Well, they're gone. But now's not the time for chit-chat. We've got to haul tail and get as far away as we can."

The Seviper's skin turned from purple to a dull shade of green, and he transformed into a Scyther. "This'll do."

"What about your rainbow paint when you transform?"

"Oh, I picked up some cool tricks from the other Smeargle here. Ends up he's a pretty cool guy. Too bad he's working with the Mafia. I'd like to put him on the team."

"Hey!" A lone Heracross pointed to them, "That's Alice! Who are you?"

Vincent looked at her with a smile. "Would you like to do the honors?"

"Of course." She grabbed onto her mega stone and closed her eyes as the mega evolution took place, now that she was outside of the . Her muscles expanded and her senses were heightened. She could sense the Heracross even with her eyes closed. When the shield shattered, she rushed forward, only to be met with a mega-evolved Heracross' megahorn attack.

In that moment, time seemed to slow down, and before the attack could connect, Tyranitar dropped from the sky onto the bug-type, crushing it underfoot. He kicked its stiff body aside with a crunch from its exoskeleton. "Ugh… I hate bugs." He looked at the Scyther and opened his mouth slightly, a blue flame trickling from between his fangs, and Vincent backed up, "Whoa! Chill! I'm with you guys!" He transformed into a Smeargle, and Tyranitar tilted his head. "Who are you?"

"I'm Vincent the Smeargle! One of the first recruits! Who are you?"

"Tyranitar. Alice… Is he-"

"Yes! He's with us!" She replied with a grin. She leapt into the stone colossus' arms and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Oh, thank you… Thank you… But isn't Galvantula your best friend?"

"Oh." Tyranitar let out a short laugh. "Heh. Yeah, I mean, besides him. Sorry if that came out wrong." Then he looked around for a moment and crossed his arms. "Where is he, anyways? It's not like him to miss out on a rescue mission."

"So…" Vincent began, "Are you two a thing, or…"

"No!" They both replied at the same time. Tyranitar shook his head rapidly, and Alice glared at the Smeargle. "You know Atlas and I are still together, right?"

"Pfft, yeah. As long as you guys didn't die, I knew nothing would break you two up. I was just messing with you."

He looked around at the empty space, and Tyranitar pointed towards the stormclouds. "Grovyle, Basileus and Connor are over there."

Vincent laughed nervously, and Alice gasped. "Vincent… You-!"

"Yeah… I _might_ have sent everybody here over there to investigate… My bad. I was just trying to get these guys out of here."

Tyranitar shrugged, "They're fine. Basileus could take them all on and still win. And he's got Grovyle and Connor."

 **-Grovyle-**

He ducked beneath the swing of the Sawk's fist and jabbed its chest with a power-up punch, sending it crashing into a Rhydon. He used grass knot on a Drapion that tried to sneak up on his father. He felt a slight breeze behind him and whirled around in the blink of an eye, only to come face to face with an Absol. Its horn nearly sliced the tip of his snout off, but he leaned backwards and slowed down time. Everything slowed to a halt around him until it was like the air itself was moving through honey. He slammed the Absol's head into the ground, then proceeded to lop off another Scolipede's horns after leaping off of a Rhyperior's back while placing a seed bomb in one of the stone protrusions. Soon after, Basileus joined him in the frozen time, and before long, they had disabled every enemy around them. They both smiled as time returned to normal and the seed bombs all around them detonated at once, and Tyranitar stopped in front of them, carrying Alice. She smiled and stepped onto the ground, and Connor rushed forward. "Oh, thank Arceus!"

He embraced her, and she smiled even wider. "Connor… Guess who I found!"

He tilted his head in confusion until a familiar voice interrupted, "Actually, it's more like I found you. And now is not the time to talk. These guys won't stay down for long. And might I just say... wow. Grovyle and Basileus, the two Temporal Guardians, father and son, taking down every member of the mafia single-handedly! No better way to bond than bathing in the blood of your enemies with your old man! Although, from the looks of it… You didn't actually kill anyone. I'm guessing you meant to do that, though."

Basileus narrowed his eyes slightly. "Old?"

A familiar Smeargle landed on the ground, two bright blue wings wrapping around him like a cloak. He stood up and winked playfully as the paint dissolved into the ground. "You heard right, you wood gecko. Miss me yet?"

* * *

 **Bam! So, did you guys miss Vincent? I know I did. That being said, I hope you are all having a wonderful week! Oh, and Grovyle's the final Temporal Guardian! And did you guys like Grovyle's explanation about the Alternate Realities? Was it good? Confusing? Not really? Let me know with a Review or PM! And as always, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Go ahead and leave any questions, comments, concerns and theories in the form of a review or PM, and I will see you all in the next chapter!**

 **(1.) That was a small shoutout to one of my favorite authors on , Aerojester203. The Meowth from Concordia is actually in one of his stories, called A New Life. It's about Meowth from Team Rocket meeting Rio the Riolu and making the base PMD story with a bunch of twists similarly to mine. His story actually inspired my first two stories since they came first, and without him, I don't think I'd still be writing, to be completely honest. So... yeah. He didn't ask me to do this, but I will anyways, because he truly has a gift in that department. So if you guys want to read some kick-ass PMD stories, go check out his profile. You won't be disappointed. (This actually turned into a big shoutout without me meaning to. Lol) Much Love!**

 **-PL**


	24. Old Friends Meet New

**-Chapter XXIV: Old Friends Meet New-**

 **-Connor-**

He nearly burst into tears then and there. Vincent was alive! He could hardly believe it!

"Vince! I thought you… We all thought you-"

"Yeah, I do that a lot, don't I? Well… I'll admit, it took forever to find you guys. I've been trying to get out of here, but anyone who leaves is put into this massive databank thing, then everyone is scanned by an Alakazam before they go… Phoo... I can't pretend to be someone who's here and leave without getting caught, and the whole thing with Tyranitar at the mountain base proved how hard it is to get accepted in the first place."

Alice gasped with disbelief. "You were there?"

"Of course. How else would I have known to find you here?"

"Then why didn't you do anything? Getting your face blasted off by a dragon pulse hurts, you know!"

"You saw how many pokémon there were in there! If I'd blown my cover, I'd probably get caught or killed, too. Besides, I knew you had a reviver seed. Sneaky, hiding it in the fur tufts on your legs. I never would've thought to look there."

"How did you know I had a reviver seed?"

"Mind reader, sweetums. Did you already forget? It hasn't even been a week! Well, it might've been… It's hard to keep track of time nowadays."

"...Oh."

"So how are you still alive?" Connor questioned.

He stood up and transformed into a Braviary in the blink of an eye. A lot faster than any other time he had before.

"And how did you transform so fast?" Connor asked immediately afterwards.

"Ends up these guys aren't just all talk. Most of them know how to fight. I picked up a few tricks while I was here. I'll explain it all when we get back."

Grovyle and Basileus climbed onto Vincent's back, and Connor rode a boulder with Ancient Power while Tyranitar sprinted after them, carrying Alice in his arms.

 **-Amber-**

"Briar. It's getting late." she said.

"No it's not. It's only been thirty minutes. My mate and son are more than capable of defending themselves."

They waited inside of the jungle base they had set up and listened to Dawn relaying what was going on.

"Whoop! They're good! Alice is alright, and I sense another pokémon with them… That's weird. But everyone's alright!" She grinned and high-fived Celebi.

Atlas pulled Dawn into a hug. "Thank goodness… They're alright…"

Dawn kind of stiffened up at the sudden gesture. "...Why did you hug me?"

"Because… You're actually not that bad. I just… wasn't ready for change, I guess. But now… I dunno. You're alright. You've got a temper, but hey, so do I. We'll work through it, I guess. These guys don't know what's about to hit them once we get our full strength back."

Dawn seemed to hesitate before smiling, and Aaron perked up from his resting position. "I feel a powerful pokémon closing in fast."

Briar closed her eyes, then raised her eyebrows in a puzzled expression. "Connor? Tyranitar?"

Amber concentrated, then she felt it too. "No... Not them."

Briar's leaf blades began glowing while Galvantula appeared in the blink of an eye and draped a camouflage webbing over himself. "Let's just… wait and see what happens. I'll sneak attack them from behind. I've got four days' worth of electricity stored up."

Atlas shook his head and stood up. "Remember what happened last time we waited? And besides, why aren't you with Grov-"

Then he was picked up by a blur of yellowish-green and thrown through the roof without any warning, cutting his sentence short. Briar rushed forward alongside Vulcan and Dawn, but the pokémon didn't even stay still long enough for her to slow down time and chase after it.

Galvantula took the webbing off and tilted his head at the new machamp-sized hole in the roof. "Uh… What just happened?"

 **-Atlas-**

When he landed, he had broken through several trees and plowed a trench about thirty feet long into the ground. He laid there for a moment, trying to process what had happened.

"...What…"

"Stand up!" A commanding female voice resonated throughout the forest before he was grabbed and thrown again by a towering green figure.

He was prepared this time. He landed on his feet and used his hands to stop himself from sliding too far. He stood up and looked around wildly, activating all three elemental punches, one on each fist, and leaving one for a regular dynamic punch. "Who are you?!"

"I am Arturia!" Another blur of green, and a sickening sound like a blade slicing through flesh was all he heard before his upper right hand fell to the ground. He gasped as the stump on his arm began spurting blood, and as soon as the pain registered, he cried out in absolute agony. He knelt on the ground, clasping his hand over the severed limb, trying to stop the bleeding, but it was no use. Then the figure that had thrown him appeared. A Haxorus towered over him and crossed its arms in discontent. "I had hoped you'd put up more of a fight, Atlas. I'm disappointed."

He groaned in pain as she kicked him in the side with her clawed feet. He let go of his arm and struggled to stand as his vision began fading.

 _I'm going to bleed out… I can't let that happen… Alice is alive… I have to see her!_ He superheated his bottom right fist, and before he had the chance to second guess himself, he clamped down on the nub with his white-hot hand, cauterizing it instantaneously. He screamed in pain as the blood evaporated and the skin melted together, but he remained conscious. The Haxorus observed him and laughed cruelly. "So you do offer some resistance… Your tolerance for pain is respectable. You would make a great addition to our group."

"Hey!" Atlas perked up at the voice, and the Haxorus was enveloped in a pink glow before she was slammed into the ground, then had three trees uprooted and thrown into her from three different directions. Dawn teleported between the Haxorus and Atlas, extending her arm out towards the attacker. "Don't touch him!"

The Haxorus groaned and got up rather slowly, and upon seeing that it was a Ralts, it seemed… afraid. Why?

"Most pokémon don't know about my evolutionary line's fairy-typing. I got it last time I visited Luminous Springs. Now tell me… Are you familiar with moonblast?"

The Haxorus growled and pointed at Atlas as she began backing away. "This isn't over."

Dawn shook her head. "Oh. Yes it is. You leave us alone."

The Haxorus was thrown to the ground with psychic again, and a massive pink moon appeared above them, and the attack was followed by a hundred pink rays of light piercing straight through the Haxorus, pinning it to the ground like a bundle of transparent harpoons.

Dawn nodded in content as the Haxorus stayed on the ground, but just afterwards she was hit from behind by a metallic fist that sent her flying forward, tumbling across the ground. A Hitmonchan darted between the trees that Dawn uprooted with unreal speed and hit her again, this time in her face. She shouted in pain as she flew back another ten feet, but she sat up and raised her arm in an attempt to use psychic, but a Drapion ran out from behind the nearest tree and blocked the psychic attack. It grabbed her in one of its pincers and chuckled with amusement. "This is the little runt that Mordred's been obsessed over?"

She hit the Drapion's arm feebly with her fists, but she was already broken by the Hitmonchan's bullet punch attack, and none of her psychic-type moves worked on the new pokemon.

Atlas was helpless… and he hated it. He hated being helpless as much as he hated losing. He had never been put in a corner like this until about five days ago. And he refused to ever let anyone die on his watch again.

Without a second thought, he unclipped his belt buckle from around his waist. Instantly, a blast of energy surged from within him, filling him with a newfound power. He stood up and rushed forward, since both of the opponents had their backs turned to him. _I won't let her die… Not while I can help it!_

Apparently the Drapion wasn't expecting the attack. He charged a focus punch in one hand and a dynamic punch in the other as he ran forward as fast as a Lucario. He ignited one hand and grabbed the Drapion's arm, burning it as well as crushing it in his iron grip. The Drapion shouted in pain and released Dawn. She fell to the ground and teleported away. That was good. The Drapion whirled around and grabbed Atlas' neck with his other pincer, but he broke its wrist with his dynamic punch, its arm only being held together by a thin strand of muscle, leaving it dangling flimsily. He stomped the ground and used earthquake, the entire ground heaving back and forth, sending cracks between the trees. The Drapion fell to the ground and shouted out, "Have mercy! Please! Gak!" He grabbed his broken arm and cried in agony.

Atlas growled and hit its face with the focus punch. Its entire head cratered inwards, but its poison-typing stopped the attack from killing it instantly. Atlas held it up with his fiery hand and glared at him. "Give me one good reason as to why I shouldn't kill you right now."

It coughed up pitch-black blood in response, and Atlas growled and clenched his fist down tighter, digging into its exoskeleton. "Wrong answer. I've been dying to hit something for a while now. And this power surge is the best thing that happened to me all week."

It croaked once, then cried out, "Lady Weavile!"

Atlas hit its head again with a regular karate chop, but with his absolute power, it still did critical damage. He could hear its exoskeleton snap under the pressure.

He winded his fist back once more, ready to finish the job, but he felt something sharp slice across his chest. When he turned, a Weavile was crouched down in a fighting stance, glaring at him. Atlas laughed and dropped the Drapion, turning to the Weavile. "Oh? You're AWD? I expected you guys to be more of a challenge, given your reputation!"

The Weavile smirked and uncrossed her arms. "Your expectations are flattering. But I'm not here to fight. Drapion here has been acting out on his own recently, and I've come to reclaim him. " Her voice was slightly raspy, and not nearly as feminine as he had pictured.

Atlas laughed and ignited his fists. "Likely story."

The Weavile puffed out her chest and walked straight past him. "It's true. Now come, Drapion. A reviver seed will heal your arm… Oh, and Atlas… My team won't bother you again. You have my word."

The dark and poison type stood up weakly and limped after her, complaining the whole time until they were a dot in the distance of the forest. Atlas growled and turned back to the Hitmonchan, who was buried up to its chest in solid earth. He grabbed its head and pulled it straight out of the ground like a potato. He noticed in the back of his head that his skin was turning solid red and steaming, but he put the thought aside and grabbed its arms with two of his and began pulling. "Tell me where Mordred is, or your day is about to get a whole lot worse."

"I don't know!"

Atlas rolled his eyes and pulled slightly harder. "Try me. What I did to Drapion is only gonna be a fraction of what I do to you."

The Hitmonchan tried to break free of his grip, but he clenched down harder, crushing its arm bones to gravel. It cried out in pain, and Atlas heard a voice behind him. "Atlas, stop!"

He shook his head. "No! He deserves to die!"

"Stop! NOW!" Briar commanded him. He hesitated, but loosened his grip on the Hitmonchan. He turned to face the Sceptile and threw the fighting-type to the ground in front of her. "There… You happy now?"

She tossed his belt to him and pointed to his chest. "Your entire body is burning away. Put your belt back on."

He hadn't noticed, but his skin had started charring and had several dozen welts and bumps the size of oran berries all along his arms. He quickly put his belt back on, and the energy surge faded. He instantly lost consciousness.

* * *

" _Atlas…"_

 _Huh? Who's…_

"Atlas…"

 _Alice?_

His eyes fluttered open, and when he looked directly above him, Alice was smiling with tears in her eyes. He ignored all the pain in his body and pulled her into a hug. She laughed with joy, and he looked at her once again. "You came back…"

"I told you I can take care of myself…" Then she leaned in and kissed him. Roy floated out of the shadows and made a gagging noise. "Blech. Get a room or something."

Atlas found himself actually smiling at Roy's jesting. "Heh. So… What happened, Dawn?"

"What?" Dawn asked with a shocked tone. "Oh. You don't… Remember." She sounded disappointed, but Atlas shook his head. "I remember that you were in danger… And then… Nothing. It was like a giant blur."

Dawn tilted her head down, and Briar scowled at him. "You're lucky I found you when I did. You unleashed your raw power by removing your power belt."

"Is that what happened?"

"Yes. Your body can't handle the amount of power coursing through you when you do that. Your skin had begun corroding away, and from the looks of it, you don't remember anything about the experience. So I presume that there is substantial brain damage as well."

He rolled his head to the side groggily and tried to sit up, but couldn't find any strength. "Geez, how long was I out...? Actually, Dawn, what happened to that Haxorus?"

"She escaped," Dawn said. "I thought she was immobilized at least, but… yeah… I think she had other friends that helped her out after we left."

Atlas growled slightly, then gasped. "My hand! I remember…" He looked at his upper right hand and saw something that surprised him: his hand was back, but it looked… different. He tilted his head at it, then flexed his fingers experimentally. When he did that, the shadows cast by Vulcan and Amber's tails swirled together into one circle of darkness about a foot across. His eyes widened as his fist gave off a pitch-black spectral glow, and he looked at Roy and Dusknoir. "Did you…?"

Dusknoir floated forward and explained. "While you were unconscious, I used shadow-healing to create a new hand for you that is similar to my own. You can use it as if it were a normal hand, as well as manipulate shadows similarly to Roy and I with it. Just… not as well."

He closed his fist again, and the shadows exploded around the room like dancing pillars of darkness. "Huh… I'll need to practice..."

His body was in an unspeakable amount of pain, but right now his happiness and amazement made him block it out. Alice was alive, and his hand wasn't gone. Or, at least he got a new one. That was almost just as good.

"Atlas." Grovyle began. He raised an eyebrow at him. "Yeah?"

Then, he melted into a puddle of green liquid. Atlas shouted in surprise and almost rolled out of the bed, until it solidified into a familiar shape. The colors returned to normal, and his best friend smirked. "Ha! I got you good, didn't I?"

Tears of joy forced themselves out, and he stood up shakily and fell on top of him after his legs gave out once again. "Vincent… Vincent! You're alive… Oh, Arceus..." he laughed with joy as his face became streaked with tears of happiness.

The Smeargle smiled and teared up as well. "Heck yeah I am… And I'm glad you're doing alright, too, buddy…" He looked around at the large group of pokémon and quickly looked back at Atlas. "And what are seven Temporal Guardians doing here? I thought there were, like, only twelve or something. Don't they have other things to do?"

Atlas shrugged. "I dunno. They felt like they needed to help us out, so… Yeah. Why are you complaining?"

Vincent laughed, "Oh, I'm not… I'm just curious... " then he looked to the ground as his smile lessened. "And… I heard about Noc and Magnus… And… Rose."

Atlas teared up slightly. "Yeah… I miss them, man…"

"Magnus' unorthodox style of cursing was entertaining, to say the least." Vincent said with a pained smile.

Then he looked at Aaron and bobbed his head down slightly. "You guys have been busy, I see… Already got two new recruits. I hope you weren't trying to replace me!"

Atlas nodded slowly and laid his head back down on the bed, his eyelids becoming unbearably heavy. "Yeah… Um, listen, Vince… I'm really happy to see you… But… I'm getting really tired, so… yeah…" his eyes shut, and he passed out instantly.

* * *

 **Good evening, guys! Sorry for the late chapter, my family was visiting from Maine. I live in Texas, so I was spending lots of time with them. So what did you guys think of the chapter? Vincent and Alice are alive, and even though Atlas lost a hand to Arturia, Dusknoir made him a new one that can bend shadows... So is that good or bad? You decide. :P As always, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! If you have any questions, comments, concerns or theories about what might happen, feel free to tell me about it in the form of a Review or PM!**

 **Also, if you'd like, feel free to let me know how I can improve on my character development. I've noticed that with over twenty-five main characters to keep track of, and with the number only growing as the series goes on, I might be slacking a bit in the development of the individuals. I don't know though. That's for you guys to decide. I'm just really nit-picky when it comes to this sort of stuff. Sometimes I have to remind myself that I'm not a professional, so it's ok if it's not perfect. :P I don't know if I tell you guys this enough, but thank you for being here and reading my stories. It really means alot to me. Until next time! Much Love!  
**

 **-PL**


	25. A New Fight

**-Chapter XXV: A New Fight-**

 **-Vincent-**

He smiled and patted Atlas chest, noting one of the small craters in his skin from when he went 'Super Machamp'. "Have a good rest, buddy."

He turned back to the Ralts and smiled. "We haven't officially met yet… I'm Vincent. The second first-gen recruit."

The Ralts smiled and extended her hand. "I'm Dawn. The first third-gen recruit."

He let out a small laugh and pat her back. "I like you already. You're using my terms without hesitation. Connor, you did good with this one."

Connor nodded silently, and Vincent sighed weakly. "So… you got a nice place here. Third move, if I'm not mistaken? First in amountain, then a forest, now in a freakin' swamp... What happened to Sharpedo Bluff? Is it vacant right now, or what?"

Connor teared up in response, and he quickly dropped the subject. "Oh. Got it."

Then he looked back at Atlas. "Do you think he knows you guys moved again after that whole thing?"

Briar shook her head, and Vincent whistled. "Guess he really was out like a light. Almost a whole day. I can't believe he remembers who we are." Then he eyed the Pikachu, who had a scowl across his face. "So what's your name? You don't look happy to be here at all."

"Aaron."

He moved closer after hearing the Pikachu's angry tone. "You're the second third-gen recruit?"

He nodded silently, and Vincent shrugged. "Not much of a talker. I understand. I'll leave you be for a little bit." He stood up and sat next to Atlas again while the others were discussing plans about stuff. Honestly, he didn't care too much. He'd seen the Mafia from the inside. He didn't want to tell them right now, but it was hopeless to fight these guys. They knew everything about the team, and then some. They had lists of all of their enemies, all of their friends, other teams that might help them out… everything. And to top it off, they already had a pokémon that could control time, from what he overheard while posing as Nagini.

Apparently Victor suspected that Grovyle could control time due to his whole involvement with the Time Gears, so he took even more precautions to eliminate that possibility. So… The Temporal Guardians' biggest trump card was useless now, if what he heard was correct. Speaking of Nagini, that Seviper was really high up in the ranks. He's one of about ten pokémon that have even seen Victor, from what he could tell. Along with Alice, that made it almost eleven. So they had an advantage in that regard, but it wasn't much. Even if they managed to get to him, which was nearly impossible now, he had Mordred as a pretty much full-time personal bodyguard, and he was a lot more powerful than he'd let on during the other fights. Mordred wasn't the one put in charge behind Victor just for his evil looks.

Mordred really underestimated the team, and that was why only three members died. They could have easily taken down Jade, Mirage, Vulcan, and maybe even Connor and Atlas.

He kept thinking about his escape. After he dissolved into shadows as a Golurk, he used substitute to fool them, then used recover, a move learned from an Alakazam that was checking the perimeters. He healed himself and used teleport to run away, but the Banette had a shadow tag cast over the entire place… He couldn't get out without an escape orb. So he had to think fast. Then he transformed into the first pokémon he saw… then he killed him to prevent any suspicions. It was just a child… He didn't want to, but it was alone, and he needed to escape… Or at least keep a disguise long enough to gather some info about this group. He wasn't proud of it, and he didn't like remembering it. It was easy, but… it wasn't. It was one of those things that's going to haunt him for the rest of his life. Kind of like the Hypnosis with Vulcan… Except he had a choice.

He teared up and looked to the ground. "I'm sorry…"

 **-Aaron-**

He looked at the ceiling in silence. It looked practically the same as the jungle base, but the air was much more humid. It made his electricity go haywire sometimes, sparking out of his control. Luckily the water in the air made everything damp, so nothing caught on fire.

Vincent just went from a kind of happy Smeargle to a crying Smeargle in about ten seconds. It didn't take much to tell that he'd been through some rough times while he was in hiding. He'd read about that guy in Magnezone's files about Team Firestorm. He was usually known as the fun one of the team. Some of them called him Mr. Do-it-all sometimes, due to his unlimited movepool, and his ability to copy pretty much any move anyone else used.

Right now, he had things on his mind, things that he didn't want that Ralts knowing about. She was always up in everyone's business, and that really got under his skin. He was pretty sure everyone here had some secrets that they want buried for good. After everyone was asleep, Vincent stayed up, crying some more. Aaron wanted to tell him to stop, but he didn't have any right to do that. How did he know what that Smeargle had been through? So he just dealt with it until Vincent finally settled down and went to sleep. He opened his palm and let the blue electric aura sphere levitate above his head. He sighed and dissipated it once again.

 _Only Lucario should be able to use Aura like this… But I am a special case..._

Then the memories hit him like a Hariyama.

 ***Flashback***

He travelled up the mountain with his belongings in a small bag. He didn't need much. Only a few oran berries, an escape orb, a couple apples, and a reviver seed for emergencies. He hiked up the mountain with a smile. Back when he was a Pichu, everyone used to pick on him, call him names… a freak. A weirdo because of his grey fur and aura bolts... But not anymore. He had become stronger. His dad had always told him that he needed to be strong. That the only reason others pick on you is because they're scared of what you might become. That was why he ran away. He didn't want to hurt them, but… if he'd told them, they would have tried to stop him. And he didn't want to see them sad. He smiled as he remembered his little sister's face. She must have been all grown up by now…

He laughed to himself. "Wow… It's already been three years… I wonder how they're doing." Then he smiled at the thought of seeing his best friend again. He was the only pokémon he had told of his plan. But when he did, he'd tried to tell him that he was crazy. But Aaron didn't listen. Instead, he went off in search of the greatest fighter in history: Lucario. The pokémon that had lived once on Concordia, and was reborn into this world. At least, that's how the rumor went. He hadn't ever found him, but he had lots of time to practice his moves and skills. He was plenty tough now. And constantly being on the run and exploring and eating nothing but berries and apples… He had grown really tall, too. He was a full two feet tall, eight inches higher than most of the others. His dad would be so proud.

He saw some familiar faces, all running down the mountain, past him, not paying him any heed. He didn't think much of it… maybe it was a game of some sort. He used to race his best friend Michael down the mountain all the time before he left. Then he smelt it. Smoke.

"Oh, no… No, no, no, NO, NO!" He took off on all fours up the mountain, scaling the rocks like he was a Gogoat. He wasn't used to this kind of environment after spending most of his time in the forests and jungles of the other continents, but he ran with all of his might.

 _My village… My family! They have to be alright!_

When he got there… it was too late. The entire village had been burnt… huts were nothing but embers, tents were ashes in the wind… What he saw… he would never forget. The burnt corpses of everyone he knew and loved… He ran straight to where his house should have been… only to find a pile of embers, barely hot, but still smoldering in the cool air of the mountain. Tears began falling as he used iron tail to move the large pieces of wood to the side, trying to find his family… until he did. His parents and sister were all near the back, charred, barely recognizable. He wept as he ran through the steaming coals, ignoring the burning pain in his feet. "Mom! Dad! Sarah!"

One by one, he picked them up and dragged them out of the smoldering rubble, until they were all lying on the ground. He knelt down and laid over them, weeping, crying, begging for them to come back. Then he clenched his fists and looked to the sky. "Whoever did this… I'm coming for you! And I'll make you pay!"

He laid on the ground in front of their graves for two whole days, waiting… Hoping… He didn't eat. Didn't drink. He felt that if he left… He'd be accepting that they weren't coming back.

"You'll come back… You have to be alright…"

"I am so sorry, Aaron…"

He stood up and turned to the new voice. A Honchkrow accompanied by a Bisharp and Kirlia walked up to him with a saddened smile. "You have my deepest condolences…"

He wiped his tears and stood up with a solemn expression, masking all his sorrow and putting his senses on high alert. "Who are you?"

"My name is Victor… I am looking for one of the pokémon responsible for these incidents, burning villages across Immanis… Their names are Cinder and Iden. They are an Infernape and Charizard. Do you know them?"

Aaron shook his head. He'd learned enough to know when a pokémon was lying. "Never heard of them. Maybe you missed the memo or something, but I just got back from the forest continent."

"Oh? What were you doing all the way over there?"

"Self-recreation. And how did you know my name?"

"I make it in my best interest to know everything there is to know about Iden and-"

"So why are you here?"

Victor tilted his head at the interruption. "Pardon? I'm here because I am following leads on two wicked and vicious pokémon, responsible for the deaths of dozens of pokémon across Immanis."

Aaron clenched his fists tighter. Something about this pokémon was off. He could feel it in the air. It was like he could feel his intentions… but… he couldn't tell exactly what they were.

"Victor… I have to ask, how come you took two days to get here, if you're following a lead? Were you, perhaps, waiting for someone? For me? Because if it took you two days to get here, you should know that both of those pokémon are long gone."

Victor shrugged slightly. "Well… you're correct. I'm interested in you. In fact, I've been watching you for some time before you… disappeared. You vanished without a trace about three years ago. No one knew where you had gone. I had asked your family, everyone around the village… Anthony, William, Samya… I could go on. Now… I must ask, why did you take so long to come back? Self-recreation would normally mean vacations… And they don't last but a week or two, I'd imagine, even for the wealthiest of pokémon. Unless you were… training? Or exploring?"

Aaron smiled in spite of his curiosity and nervousness. Who was this pokémon? The Honchkrow never gave a straight answer. He asked who he was. And the Honchkrow still hadn't answered.

"So… Tell me, Aaron… What were you doing all the way on the forest continent?"

"None of your business."

Victor nodded slowly. "Ah, yes… forgive my bold approach. I simply don't get out like I used to." Then he narrowed his eyes and looked back at Aaron. "But still… I have to ask myself… Would you perhaps be interested in joining me?"

"What?"

"If you join me… We could find the pokémon responsible for this. Iden… Cinder... We could avenge your family."

Aaron's eyes widened. "You say… I'll be able to avenge my family?"

"Yes. I will see to it that-"

"He's lying, Aaron! Don't believe him!"

Victor snarled as another Pikachu leapt between them. Aaron stared at him with disbelief. "Michael! You're alive?!"

"No time for that, buddy! These guys are the ones that burnt this place with a Houndoom! I saw it myself! I don't know who Cinder and Iden are, but they're lying!"

Aaron glared at the Honchkrow, and Victor glanced at the Kirlia. "Kill the yellow one. That's an order."

Aaron gasped as a Kirlia teleported in front of them in a split moment and used psychic on Michael to throw him into the burning remains of his home. The Pikachu retaliated with a thunderbolt, but the Kirlia's fist crackled with electricity, and it absorbed the thunderbolt with its hand. Then it teleported right in front of Michael and held him aloft with psychic. Aaron began charging up a thunderbolt as well, but the Kirlia's eyes flashed white, and he was completely immobilized. Then it closed its hand, and Michael's movement ceased. Aaron's imprison wore off at about the same moment that he felt Michael's life energy fade to nothing. He backed away slowly in disbelief, then used agility to run away as fast as he could, dodging the Bisharp after using substitute to fake him out. He couldn't do anything about it now. "Michael… No..."

As he leapt down the mountain with enhanced speed, he looked back at the plumes of smoke rising from the top of the mountain as the only place he had ever called home burned to the ground. "Victor… I'll be the one to kill you… You and your 'pets'. I swear by Arceus."

 **-Jade-**

The past day had been strange. They had went almost all the way back to Treasure Town after Atlas had been incapacitated. Amber had insisted that the mafia wouldn't be searching there anymore. They were encamped just outside of Drenched Bluff, in the marshlands directly east. Tyranitar had carried Atlas with little effort, draping him across his shoulders. They had built the base in almost the exact same way, like a fallout shelter buried halfway in the ground. She stared at the ceiling in silence, just like every other day since they had been on the run.

This day was no different, she knew that as soon as she woke up this morning. They would sit around, doing nothing, or something horrible would happen to them. She knew that deep down, this entire effort at resistance was useless. This group had barely been affected after they gave it their all, with two further teams to assist them. And Dawn… She still didn't trust her entirely. She had been extremely useful these past few days, and she showed promise as a powerful member, but she couldn't shake a bad feeling about the psychic and fairy type.

After looking around briefly and waiting for most of the members to leave the hut, she took a deep breath and called out. "Connor."

"Huh? Yep?" Her leader slowly paced closer, and she activated her telepathy.

" _It's about Dawn..."_

He looked to the side for a moment, then spoke back in her head. " _I know you don't like her, Jade… But still..."_

" _It's not that I don't like her… It's that I really, really don't trust her… Is having her on the team really worth the risk right now? We are at each other's throats more often than not, and all previous actions aside, what do we really know about her?"_

He shrugged lightly. " _I dunno… She's helped us break into the Mafia's base, and she's teleported us exactly where we wanted to go twice, and helped rescue Roy. And Alice said that she's being honest. That's all I really need to know."_

" _But what if something were to happen? Would we be able to stop her if she somehow turned against us?"_

He shifted uncomfortably, signaling that her words had some impact. "... _She's fine, Jade. Nothing will happen. Who can hypnotize a psychic type into attacking her friends?"_

" _The same ones that could hypnotize Vulcan into almost killing you. You of all people should know better than to underestimate others."_

" _I know, I know… But why are you just now bringing this up?"_

"It's been an issue ever since I first saw her. _Just... don't trust her until she proves herself."_

" _How has she not proven herself? She's kind of helped us out a stupid amount of times in less than a week."_

" _She has yet to earn my trust. Every other member of this team has done so, and until she does the same, you need to be wary."_

" _Why? I can still beat her if she does try anything!"_

" _Do you know for a fact that you can? You held back on Vulcan, and because of that, you almost died. If she turns against us, will you be able to do what has to be done? Because you are the most powerful pokémon I have ever had the honor of meeting. And if anything happens to you, this team… This… family is finished."_

" _Nothing's gonna happen to me! We're the good guys!"_

" _That's exactly what Nocturne, Rose and Magnus thought. Look at what happened to them."_

His jaw dropped slightly as he stammered, "Ah..."

" _Precisely my point. Right now, this ends two ways. Either we beat the Mafia… or we die. It doesn't matter if we are the 'good guys' or not._ _"_

" _Alright, fine… You got me. Just for… in the future… You should learn to give people a little more credit than you think they deserve. They'll surprise you."_ He tilted his head down and turned away from her. Jade sighed and looked back at the roof. _He doesn't understand… What I've seen… Dawn, Roy, and Aaron... and even me… We're all connected. But only I know that… And perhaps Roy._

"Jade."

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath to push down her thoughts. "Yes, Alice…?"

"...Can we talk? Outside?"

She sat up slowly and glanced at Alice, and the pain in her eyes startled her. "Alice? Are you alright?"

"Yeah, just… meet me outside."

She quickly moved up the stairs, and Jade followed her with her eyes. _Why is she suddenly so intent on talking to me? Did she overhear our conversation? No, it was with telepathy… Well, it certainly wouldn't hurt to see what she wants._

She phased through the wall and met the Lopunny outside, about thirty feet from the back of the hut, out of earshot of the others.. "Yes?"

Alice dug through her paint-treasure bag and pulled out a small piece of paper. "Here. Noc wanted to give this to you, back when you shut him down before we went and rescued Vulcan."

She gasped lightly and held it gingerly. "This…? A piece of paper? That was what he wanted to give me?" She smiled slightly as tears lined the edges of her eyes. The last thing she'd receive from him… was a piece of paper.

"Read it." Alice ordered.

"What?"

"I said you need to read it. It was literally Nocturne's dying wish."

She rolled her eyes slightly, and Alice's fist was coated in a black spectral energy. "Do not give me any attitude. When it comes to this sort of thing… You don't want to mess with me. I will put you in a whole new world of hurt."

Jade laughed for the first time in weeks. "Ha. Alice… You actually made me laugh. Congratulations."

She was clearly caught off guard by that statement, and she continued, "Tell me… how were you planning on 'putting me in a whole new world of hurt'? Was that just an empty threat? And if you intended to back it up, do you think anyone on our team, or the Temporal Guardians, for that matter, would approve?"

Alice glared at her, and Jade smiled gently. "I'll read it. You get so flustered when you're mad. It is… amusing to me."

She took the piece of paper and unfolded it. At the top, the date was written, followed by the name. 'seventeenth day of _Rijen (October), from Nocturne Hazeldine.'_

 _To: Iris "Jade" Meljanac_

 _*How are you? Sorry we haven't really talked recently. I wanted to lead with that, because I know how short of an attention span you have if something's not interesting.*_

She let out a soft laugh and read on, tears in her eyes. She missed him… more than she could ever describe with words. Even if it was just a crush at the time… When he saved her life… She truly fell in love that day.

 _*I wanted to say that I really do think the world of you. I understand that with all this stuff going on, with your indecisiveness and such… that you might not feel the same way. And if you don't, then just tell me… So we can move on. It's just… after that night, I never really looked at you the same. So, I thought that after we rescue Vulcan, I was wondering if you wanted to head to Spinda's cafe for a drink, to… y'know, talk about things. If you agree, then just let me know before we go to the rescue. And if, for some reason, something happens to me before then… during the rescue or whatever… I just want you to know that I like you… a lot. And if we meet over a couple of smoothies, I'll tell you in person. And… I know it hurts right now… all of this, everything going wrong. But it will be worth it. After the pain subsides, there will be a lifetime of happiness for all of us, I can feel it. So don't lose hope. It'll all be fine in the end. So see to it that you don't die, and we'll meet again, no matter what happens.*_

 _-Noc_

Jade held the letter so tightly. The air around her began to cool as she cried. "Yes… Nocturne, I will… I'll see to it that we meet again."

She looked up, but Alice was nowhere to be found. She smiled and laid her head against the nearest tree and thanked her silently for showing her this message. "One way or another… I will bring you back."

* * *

 **Good morning, and happy St. Patrick's day everybody! I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! What did you guys think of Aaron's flashback/Noc's note? Cute? Depressing? Not really anything? Let me know so I can improve upon it! As always, if you guys have any questions, comments, concerns or theories, feel free to leave them in the form of a review or PM! It's always appreciated! Much Love!**

 **-PL**


	26. The Games Begin

**-Chapter XXVI: The Games Begin-**

 **-Victor-**

"M-Master Victor… I swear, I didn't know…"

"You… Rogue, my best tracker, the one that could find any Pokémon just by smelling the air, had no clue that Vincent the Smeargle was hiding in plain sight amongst us?!"

"No, sir… His entire physical form changes with his transformations… including his scent, sir. I beg for your forgiveness..." the Houndoom looked to the ground and wisely refrained from making eye contact. He growled and looked at Mordred. "Bring her to the arena. We have to make an example of what happens to those who cannot do their assigned duties."

Mordred's eyes widened, "But sir… Rogue has been with us since-"

"You think I don't know that? She has failed me more times than not. I refuse to stand idle and let others do the same." He grunted and glared at her. "I have half a mind to execute you in front of everyone."

"S-sir, if I may be so bold-" Mordred began.

"No! You cannot! I don't care who she is. In this business, there is no room for the weak. She was already beaten by Connor to the point of near death. That cost us a reviver seed. One that I shouldn't have had to use. However… Rogue... you, Koumori and Mordred are the three that helped me start all of this… It wouldn't be fair to kill you. Not after everything you've done to help us."

She seemed to relax slightly, which irritated him, so he used air slash to knock her backwards, then rushed forward and used steel wing, nearly cracking her jaw. He glared at her and strode forward until he was mere inches from her face. "I'm not through yet. Now…" He said with a dangerously neutral voice, "I will not tolerate any more failure from anyone. But… I've decided to give you one final chance."

She nodded silently, then asked, "What… do I have to do…?" her voice was broken from her fractured jaw, and tears of pain dripped to the ground.

He smiled slightly and pointed to the map of Immanis. "I need you to find a single member of Team Firestorm. Whomever you wish. Kill them, and bring them to me. Do not return until your task is complete."

"Y-yes sir…"

"I will provide you access to any of the members of my forces that you wish, as well as a map detailing the dungeons of origin for all of Team Firestorm. If you fail… I will not be so merciful upon your return."

She bowed her head silently and left.

 **-Roy-**

"Dusknoir."

"Hm? Yes?"

The giant ghost turned to Briar as she strode up to them. "Since your new friend is only a young ghost, we found it in our best interest to assign you to teach him how to use a ghost-type's abilities to the greatest extent possible. That is your assigned duty."

"Of course… Anything I can do to help, Briar." He floated upwards and turned back to Roy. "You heard her. You're going to learn how to be a proper ghost-type."

He nodded and floated after him. "So… Am I not a proper ghost-type right now, or…?"

"No. You aren't." Dusknoir's rather blunt response caught him off guard. "Dusknoir… is everything alright?"

"Yes. Why do you ask?" Dusknoir looked over his shoulder as they phased through the wall.

"Normally your responses are much more elaborate, and not so straightforward."

"I'm just eager to teach, that is all. You're the first pure ghost-type I've talked to in months."

"Oh. Were there not very many ghost-types in the future, then?"

"Unfortunately, no. There are the Sableye and Golurk... But there were no real ghosts." He took a deep breath as they materialized in a massive forest. "Let us begin."v He extended his hand and narrowed his eye. "Now, first things first... do you know the basic differences between you and I?"

"Well… You're significantly larger, and… you have hands, and… one eye-"

Dusknoir laughed, but shook his head. "Those are legitimate, more… physical reasons, but no. Your past life is gone. You are a ghost, as well as a ghost-type. A husk of your former self. Me? I was born a ghost-type. I've never died before."

"What does that have to do with training?"

"Roy… Dusknoirs represent the more physical side of ghost-types. And in addition to being a ghost-type, we act as reapers, guiding lost souls to the Distortion World. We are the only species able to travel between Giratina's domain and our own without consequence."

Roy's eyes narrowed. "I'm not a lost soul, if that's where you're going with this."

"Oh, no, of course not. Your purpose still hasn't been completed yet. Until then, you are forbidden from even visiting the Distortion World."

"Ah…" Roy teared up slightly, then looked back up. "So… Training."

"Right. Mismagius are… more of the special side of ghosts, using incantations and spells and special moves, rather than brute force. That is the major difference between you and I."

"Uh-huh… So do you know any Incantations? I know ones of fear, sleep, hypnosis, partial paralysis, and fire. Although… the fire one is kind of strange. Have you ever heard of Chandelure?"

Dusknoir's fists closed tighter, but he nodded slowly. "Yes… They are the worst ghost-types, driven by a hunger for souls. Do you know what they do to their victims?"  
"They burn them, obviously." Roy replied. That was practically common knowledge.

"Worse… They burn their spirits. If a spirit is burned, there is no afterlife for it. No Distortion world. A Pokémon's life, as well as their afterlife, ends with a Chandelure's flames. Now, some are more dangerous than others. Some don't really care much for feasting on souls. They prefer more… solid sustenance. Those are the Chandelure you see on Exploration Teams. But others, such as the one that attacked you and Dawn… that is the worst kind of Chandelure. One that kills solely for the joy of killing. He could care less what happens to anyone. He preys on the weak and burns their spirits for nothing more than a short burst of energy."

"Okay… That's dark."

Dusknoir crossed his arms and nodded. "That is why you must learn to combat them. Their flames have a hypnotic effect to other ghosts. Did you ever feel like you were being drawn in, in spite of yourself during your battle?"

"Y-yes…"

"Good. That is where we will start. You must learn how to snuff out others' flames using nothing but shadows."

"Is that how Grovyle was able to absorb my mystical fire?"

Dusknoir placed a hand on his chin in thought and murmured almost inaudibly. "So… Grovyle, you've learned that little trick already… I'm impressed." Then he nodded and said slightly louder, "Yes. That explains it."

Dusknoir nodded and crouched lower to the ground, "Now, I can't slow down time to let you watch how I do these things, but I will try to go as slowly as possible. Watch the shadows along the ground, and use mystical fire. Aim it right at me."

Roy nodded and opened his mouth wide. Scarlet flames poured out and swirled into a miniature tornado that snaked straight for Dusknoir. Then, Dusknoir, in the blink of an eye, waved his hand in a downward motion. The shadows cast by various trees around the forest came towards him and formed a wall of darkness in front of the flame. He pushed forward with his other hand, and the darkness washed over the fire, snuffing it out, then sunk back into the ground, as if nothing had happened.

Roy gasped and grinned. "That's _awesome_! …Now how do I do it?"

"It is one of the simpler abilites to learn. We are, naturally, starting with the basics. Now, the way one does this is… you know how to shadow-travel great distances on your own, correct?"

"Yeah…"

"Good. Act as if you're shadow-travelling… but instead of you going to the shadows, you bring them to you. This is the base of everything a ghost-type can do with the shadows around them. It is simple to learn, but difficult to master. Even I don't know all of the tricks of the shadows. I am always learning, always… adapting. It's rather amusing to reflect back and see where I've come from." He shook his head and quickly gestured to the nearest tree, casting a long, slender shadow across the forest. "Try to draw that shadow to you. It's alright if you cannot do it at first."

Roy nodded slowly. "Okay…" He stared at the shadow and drew it closer. It separated from the tree, so a massive line of darkness was floating in front of him without being attached to anything. He gasped in surprise and Dusknoir tilted his head, obviously perplexed by the scenario. "You already know how to move shadows? I was not aware..."

"What? No I don't. I haven't done this before today!"

"...Then perhaps Mismagius are gifted with that ability upon their evolution. This simplifies things immensely." He seemed to be in thought, then pointed to the shadow again. "Form the first image that comes to your mind."

Roy nodded, and without thinking about it, the shadow morphed into the unmistakable shape of a Ralts, with light patches and darker patches, making a perfect silhouette. Dusknoir chuckled. "Hoo-hoo-ha-ha-ha! That Ralts was the first thing to come to mind?"

He was surprised, too. He wasn't really thinking about anything, but that shadow… He had to play it off. "Are you criticising the way I think?"

"No, not at all… It's just… curious, that's all. That a ghost-type such as yourself, who claims to not be governed by emotions such as infatuation and love, has a Ralts as the very first thing that comes to mind when training."

"We haven't even been at this for five minutes. Can we please… get back on topic?"

"Yes, of course. My duty is to train you in the art of shadow manipulation. Now, if done right, you can teleport in the blink of an eye." Roy tilted his head slightly, and Dusknoir was gone.

"You see?"

"Hey!" Roy floated forward rapidly as Dusknoir's stomach-mouth grinned from behind him. "If you draw the shadows into you… you can vanish and re-appear wherever you wish, all in a fraction of a moment, as long as there are enough shadows to use."

Roy nodded slowly. "Alright… Let me give it a go. How do I do it?"

"You draw the shadows into your skin, let it become a part of you. Embrace the darkness. It is a ghosts greatest ally. In absolute darkness is where we reign superior above all others. Not even Dark Types can stand against us."

Roy whistled slightly. "Huh. Alright, here goes nothing." He closed his eyes and drew the darkness in around him. It didn't feel any different at first, but when the darkness touched him, he felt… cold. It seeped into his skin, turning his violet skin into an almost black color, and Dusknoir nodded. "It is cold at first… not something you're accustomed to, I'm sure."

"True… This is uncomfortable, but I'll get used to it. What next?"

"To sink into shadows… you must disappear into yourself."

"Like I'm using Phantom Force?"

"Yes. It is essentially the same thing, except much faster, and it isn't a special move that requires time to charge up. This is instantaneous, and uses almost no energy. Psychic types require a constant supply of energy to use teleportation. That is why most of them that can learn teleport also know moves that can heal, such as wish or recover."

Roy smirked, and Dusknoir went on, "Now picture where you wish to go. You don't have to close your eyes, but it helps if you are travelling vast distances."

Roy looked around, then decided on a spot right behind Dusknoir. Then, he acted like he was using phantom force. He disappeared into the shadow realm, and everything around him was perfectly still, and outlined in black and white. "Oh… This is weird. It's like time's frozen…"

He flew to behind Dusknoir and forced himself out of the shadow realm. Everything became colorful again, and Dusknoir laughed some more. "Good, good… Your species is already able to do much of this without extensive practice… This is excellent. You'll have learned everything I know by the end of the day! Then we might even be able to battle soon!"

Roy laughed nervously. "Against you…? Heh. I don't know if I can…"

"Not to worry. That is if I deem you ready. And it is not easy to perform to my standards. But with that move you just performed… you can teleport multiple times in less than a second. Just using that alone could make you capable of providing a challenge to any non-legendary pokémon."

Roy snickered as he thought of all of the possibilities. "Oh, this will be a blast, scaring the villagers! No warning, just *boom!* I'm there! Hee-hee! This is marvelous! But… why didn't you use any of this when we were captured?" Roy asked. He had just thought about it. If Dusknoir was such an incredible ghost-type, how come they were both able to be subdued by regular, non-ghost pokémon at night in a forest?

"I wasn't prepared for the attacks at first, and whatever that Ariados did to me… it negated my shadow manipulation."

"So you have to be prepared to use these powers? That's kind of a severe drawback."

"I was preoccupied talking to you. My mind was nowhere near ready for a battle. Now, focus. Your training isn't over yet, and Briar instructed me to train you to the best of my abilities. Doing any less is unacceptable."

"Why are you listening to them? From what I heard, you killed Grovyle, almost killed Connor and Vulcan along with Grovyle a second time… It sounds like they should have already taken you out of the picture."

"You already know why, Roy." Dusknoir's tone was a mix of annoyance and anger. "I do not wish to discuss this again, and especially not while we are teaching you essential skills to become a well-versed ghost-type."

Roy nodded slowly and tilted his hat back slightly. "Alright, fine. We'll talk later. So what's next?"

Dusknoir's voice returned to normal as he held a small orb of fire in his hand. "Using Will-o-wisp to create shadows around the opponent."

 **-Zorro-**

He clawed his way up Mt. Travail, running away. His ribs were partially cracked, and his jaw was nearly broken from that stupid Infernape, but he was alive. Nagini said that there was a secret base here, somewhere… Near the top. He had to find it. He had to escape. At least until he healed up. He knew rest for emergencies, all he had to do was just escape.

Suddenly he was grabbed and thrown back down the mountain, then blasted with a full-force flamethrower. He screamed in pain as the stone around him turned to magma and he sunk into it like honey. It was agonizing, but when he opened his eyes, an Infernape was kneeling over him, the stone instantly hardening around him, until only his head and shoulders were above the stone. "Zorro the Krookodile… I thought you died in that battle a few days ago after a Golurk punched you through a building."

He gasped in pain, and the Infernape chuckled. "Yeah, yeah… I know, I'm supposed to be dead and all that. Victor's orders, right? Or was it Nagini? No, no… Mordred is what I heard Team Firestorm saying... Who's in charge of this gig, anyways?"

"Who… Are you?"

"Oh… That's right, you're relatively new here, aren't you?"

"Yeah…"

"Haha! Nope! You're lying! You, Cas, Francis and Plague are the second four after the big four!"

Out of nowhere, a fully grown Charizard crashed into him from the sky, snapping his arm in two with its leg. It snarled at him, smoke coming out of its nostrils. "You know who we are, and why we're here. Where is Victor? And if you don't know where he is, then where is Mordred? Or Vulcan?"

"Y-You think I'll tell you anything?!"

"Of course not. That would be too easy!" The Infernape replied with a light laugh.

He narrowed his eyes at them, and the Charizard pressed down harder on his broken arm. He screamed in pain, and the Charizard rolled his eyes and raised his arms. Six pillars of stone rose around them and clamped down until they were in a sealed off chamber. The Infernape smirked. "Smart. I definitely would not have thought of that."

"Save it." The Charizard growled. Zorro could barely comprehend what was going on due to the pain, but the Charizard grabbed him by his neck and pulled him straight up. "Now, you're going to tell us everything you know."

"I'd rather… die…"

The Infernape sat down and spread his arms out in a defeated gesture. "Well… What do we do? He's not going to give up anything. You heard him."

The Charizard glanced between them, then asked, "Do you have any loved ones? Someone that means a lot to you?"

"No. I gave up everything for Victor."

"All the better. Then nobody will miss you." He pulled his fist back, and just before he swung, he cried out, "W-wait! Wait…"

"Hm? Change your mind already?"

"No. I just want to say… Victor will find you… Iden and Cinder."

"Hmph. So be it." Iden pulled back his fist and sighed, "Sorry, but you leave me no-" Then the rock tomb chamber was blasted apart by a sonicboom, and a Noivern snatched the Infernape from the ground faster than the eye could follow. Then, Iden was ensnared by a thick layer of webbing that oozed over him and dragged him to the ground. Zorro smiled and leaned back. "So… The Assassins have come to save me?"

"Not quite. You just happened to be in the area. I'll be sure to report your loss to Victor. I apologize in advance for whatever fate befalls you." Widow replied without looking at him.

"Wait… You can't just leave me! I'm a part of his group! You have to take me back!"

She let out an annoyed sigh as she turned back to face him. "Our job is not to be Victor's delivery pokémon. We're not here to bring a half-dead Krookodile to our employer. We're here to kill Iden-Gak!"

The Infernape held the Ariados by her throat and set his hand ablaze, a look of rage in his eyes. "Substitutes. Gotta love 'em. Did you even read up on who you're messing with? Granted, you guys came out of nowhere, and that Noivern is freakin' fast… but still."

The Ariados struggled feebly, but the Infernape stared her down while holding her out in front of him. "Let's see how much fire you can handle… Your exoskeleton burns like kindling, so I doubt it's very much. You said you're working with Victor. Where is he?"

"I… I won't- urk!"

"Tell us, please. I recognize you guys. You're some of the most feared assassins on Immanis. Why is Victor sending you after us?"

"Because you're… in cahoots with Team Firestorm."

The Infernape laughed and dropped her, leaving her gasping for breath. He knelt down to her and burst into laughter. "Ha-ha-ha-hoo-hoo-hee-hee-ha-ha! Oh, we aren't involved with those guys! If you'd read up, we're a completely separate deal."

"But that Charizard in question is Vulcan's father."

The Infernape shook his head. "Don't know what you're talking about. We're just two guys trying to do the right thing."

"Does the right thing include disposing of the one paying my partner and I?"

"Well… Yeah, I think it does. Victor, right?"

"Yes." Iden confirmed from beneath the net of webbing.

"Then it seems like we're at a bit of a disagreement… Tell you what, since you already know who we are… I have an offer I'd like to make."

"...I'm listening."

He couldn't believe what he was hearing. The two pokémon that Victor was paying over a quarter million poké are just… making a deal with the enemy? But he couldn't say anything. The two assassins showed no interest in saving him, and those other two would surely kill him… He was going to die. Plain and simple. Unless a miracle happened.

"So… my offer is this: you leave us alone."

"...Is that all?"

The Infernape seemed to think about it, then said, "Actually, Team Firestorm, too. Leave them alone too."

The Ariados bit back a laugh. "You expect me to comply with your demands?"

"Well… yeah. You see, if you don't, then I'll have to kill you while my friend takes care of the Noivern. You see, not only do we have the male Alpha Charizard on our side, but that's Iden. If you've done your research, which I'm guessing you have, then you know how dangerous he is to mess with. So if you accept my offer, I swear that neither Iden or I will pursue you in any way. If you don't… you die. Like that." The infernape snapped his fingers, and the webbing around Iden burned away in a yellow flash of fire.

Iden stood up slowly, and Zorro noticed a strange marking on his neck, like a cross between an X and some wavy symbol he'd seen on Rogue. The Ariados gulped, but nodded slowly. "And what if I agree, but go tell Victor of what I discovered?"

"Oh. Iden, I didn't think about that. It's kinda obvious, but still… how do we threaten them to not do that?"

"Tell her that we'll find her."

"Aha! We'll find you… and kill you anyways!"

The Ariados leveled an unamused look at him, and he leaned back casually. "What, is it not convincing enough?"

"You're acting childish. If you have no affiliation with Team Firestorm, then why do you protect them in our 'agreement', which I still have yet to agree to?"

"Because I just wanted to make you mad. It's working, isn't it?"

"No. I am not baited by such foolish tactics. You'll need to do better than that."

"Well, crap. What now, Iden?"

"Hold on… The Noivern's coming." His hands glowed white, and he grabbed the Noivern's head mid-flight and slammed it into the ground face-first. Then he stepped on its back with his massive clawed foot, forcing it to the ground. "There. What were you saying?"

"I dunno… I forgot."

The Ariados lunged at him in the blink of an eye, but he swatted her aside with a mach punch, then leapt towards Iden. "Okay… I saw that coming from a mile away, but not that fast. An Ariados shouldn't be able to..." Then the Noivern vanished beneath them, along with the Ariados. "Move that fast. And Noivern don't disappear like that! Dammit, they used an escape orb!"

When Zorro looked to where Widow should have been, he found a crushed orb. He smirked and leaned his head back. _An escape orb… Huh. Guess these guys are too much for the feared assassins._ Then, much to his surprise, he was whisked away in a sphere of blue light.

* * *

 **Hello everyone! I hope you guys are having a wonderful day! Spring break is over, so it's back to school, unfortunately... Enough about real life! So much stuff is happening! Victor's mad at Rogue, Zorro and the Assassins just got royally spanked by Iden and Cinder, and Dusknoir is teaching Roy advanced shadow-bending techniques! Wow! I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! If you did, feel free to let me know! If you have any questions, comments, concerns or theories about what might happen, go ahead and leave them in the form of a Review or PM! As always, I will see you all in the next update! Much Love!**

 **-PL**


	27. Sword Against Leek

**Okay, so I am going out of town for almost two weeks, so I'll be uploading three more chapters over the next two days! Enjoy!**

* * *

 **-Chapter XXVII: Sword Against Leek-**

 **-Victor-**

"Mordred, where is Soulburner now? Vincent said that they've detained him when he posed as Nagini, but I need to make sure."

"Yes, sir. He is currently in the lowest level of Magnezone's maximum security prison, in an isolated cell made of psychically reinforced Draconian iron with spectral incantations cast around every square centimeter of the walls, ceiling and floor. He shouldn't be escaping without outside assistance."

"This is troublesome… Why did Nagini not get to him first?"

"Sir, you know how unpredictable he is, and how he does things-"

"I know I know! But I don't care! I gave that Seviper an order, and he failed to do so!"

"Actually… If I may, you never specified when or how he was to acquire Soulburner. Even if he were in Magnezone's prison-"

"Oh… This is marvelous…" He smiled as a new idea came to mind.

"S-Sir?"

"How did I not think of this sooner? Okay, send Widow and Flatline there. Have them get him out."

"But sir… They said they wouldn't-"

"Victor!"

"Widow! And Flatline…? What happened?" He stared at the burning section of Widow's neck, and Flatline's bruised backside and chest, as well as a noticeable limp.

"Your bad information is what happened! You gave us a list of all pokémon affiliated with Team Firestorm, and said you'd pay us to take them out! You never said anything about an Infernape, or that the Charizard specified was the Alpha!"

 _So… Cinder and Iden have joined forces… I can't say I'm surprised… But I didn't know Iden was the Alpha. I thought that he merely possessed a mega stone._  
"I… Am so sorry… My information is only as good as the one providing it. I had no idea that an Infernape was with Iden. Or that Iden was the Alpha Charizard."

"And the Infernape said something about a… _male_ Alpha. Care to specify what he meant by that?" Flatline growled.

 _Male Alpha…? Don't tell me… are there multiple Alphas per species? One of each Gender? No, that is impossible… For species with multiple branches in their evolution… four Alphas per evolutionary line if it splits? No, that's impossible. If one branch is only a specific gender..._

"I… I don't know. I've never heard that term before. As far as general knowledge goes, there is one per species. As such, the idea that there is an alpha for each gender is foolish and improbable. He was merely accentuating the fact that Iden was the Alpha."

"...We're very close to being done with you, Victor. You've caused us more trouble than our payment's worth."

"Are you saying that you are incapable of taking out one team and its affiliates? My, my… It seems that my expectations were too great."

"No." Widow snarled. "I am saying that you have provided us with incomplete information on at least three separate occasions. And each time it has led to further complications. Team Firestorm now knows who we are, due to your miscalculation at the Mountain base. That makes our job exponentially more difficult. And it doesn't help when we get our asses handed to us by two fire types because you didn't tell us about the Infernape! Or that Zorro was being chased by them!"

Victor cursed silently. _Iden is the Alpha… And Cinder is even more powerful than I had previously anticipated._ "...I apologize for the… current situation. I will provide four reviver seeds and six oran berries for your wounds, and I'll double your pay... if you can do one more thing for me."

Their eyes lit up, and he replied innocently. "Ah, now that the payment is compensating for the misunderstanding, you're willing?"

"...We're more prone to listening to the offer, yes."

"I want you to break Soulburner out of Magnezone's prison. I will provide you the specific details, should you accept."

She visibly and audibly hesitated, but eventually tilted her head down once. "Victor… Magnezone's prison is made to allow only select individuals in, and only with permission from Magnezone or one of the higher-ranking officers."

"I don't believe that will be a problem." Victor smiled and pulled out a scroll of paper. "If it pleases you, I'll pay you both fifty thousand poké to do this, in addition to doubling your original payment."

"Fifty thousand apiece?" Widow said with a hint of interest.

"Yes. If you can pull this off without a hitch and do so without casting suspicion upon my group."

"...We can." She affirmed.

"Good, good… And I will also send a Zoroark with you. After all, it's impossible without one. And I will keep an eye on you from here."

"How do we know it won't trick us? We're walking straight into Magnezone's most well-guarded facility. If we're caught, we're finished."

"You have my word, Widow and Flatline, that as long as you follow my instruction, no harm or inconvenience will befall you. And surely you know how much authority my word carries."

"...Very well. Give us the layout of the prison."

He pulled out a massive sheet of parchment outlining a massive base carved into a mountain, like a giant Durant hill. "Now it won't be easy, by any means. It's very structure is made to hinder every type of pokémon's movement except Magnemite's evolutionary line. Small, narrow, underground tunnels for flying types, walls that heat up when adequate pressure is applied, to combat Bug-Types that cling to the walls, spectral incantations for ghost-types and psychic types that can teleport, pressure-sensitive floor panels that shoot out electrowebs for water-types, as well as regular webs for every other ground-dwelling pokémon, Draconian Iron cells that cannot be bent or melted except by a Son of Arceus, psychically reinforced walls for fighting-types and powerful psychic types, I could go on."

"Why are you telling us this? Are you trying to talk us out of it?"

"No, only making sure that I don't give you any more _misinformation_. I should clarify… As long as you follow my directions to the letter, none of this should be a problem. If you vary even slightly, then there will be an issue. Not only from me, but from the police force, and they are not in a very good mood, since I destroyed their 'go-to team's' home."

"...Fair enough. Flatline, what do you think? Should we at least hear him out?"

"...Fine."

She shrugged slightly and moved closer to him, looking at the sheet of paper. "Tell us everything we want to know. Then we _might_ consider it."

 **-Grovyle-**

It was another beautiful day, as usual. He sat outside while the rest of the Insurgo trained with Team Firestorm. He leaned back into a hammock he fashioned out of sticks and vines and stared at the cloudless sky. He didn't like how out in the open the new location was, but Amber had insisted it was safe, and he trusted her judgement. He sighed and reached upwards, towards the sky. He was the final Temporal Guardian, and the newest one as well. He was chosen only a matter of months ago, in the future. This guardian of time thing was still a bit much. And… Amber had mentioned that Temporal Guardians weren't allowed to have relationships with mortals, but apparently he got the wrong message from that.

According to the code of the Temporal Guardians, they were forbidden from having children with anyone. So how did his parents both become Temporal Guardians and still have him as a child? He hadn't ever thought to question them ever since then, since they had been too busy with figuring out what had happened to Team Firestorm.

For now, that wasn't important. This moment, this… incredible day… it was worth looking at. "It's incredible, isn't it, Celebi?"

She smiled and moved closer to him. "No matter how many times I look to the sky, my breath is always taken away by the beauty…"

He smiled back and placed his arm around her gently. "We made this possible… for everyone in the future. You and me."

She smiled, then looked at the sky again. "Grovyle… what would happen if… we were to have a child?"

The question caught him by surprise, so he sort of stammered. "...I… I don't know." _Where had this come from? She has never been one to say things so suddenly._

"Could we be stripped of our titles as Temporal Guardians? Do you think that is a possibility?"

He took extra effort to not look uncomfortable with the situation. "...Nothing is impossible, Celebi. We both know this. Nine of the twelve Temporal Guardians are residing here, in this timeline, at the same moment. Normally this should be impossible. The Temporal Tree couldn't handle the strain of our powers combined."

"I know, but recently, I've been thinking about it a lot… what it would be like."

"Celebi, you know that Dialga forbade it after… the last time."

"I know, but we're not like her. And she had an affair with a mortal. You and I would never abandon our duties. We both fought to have a place here… We've been through too much to give it up. And we're both Temporal Guardians."

"Are you saying that you wish have a child?"

She blushed, but shook her head. "No… Not entirely."

"Celebi… It's honestly much too soon to be thinking about..." His voice trailed off as he felt a change in the air around him, and when he looked up, black clouds had gathered overhead. They glowed blue and white, and he dashed forward as fast as he could. "EVERYONE, GET DOWN!"

Then the thunder attack hit. When he stood up, his father had mega evolved and drawn it into his tail without even flinching. The ear-shattering boom that followed afterwards made him fall to the ground, but he stood up and ran directly to the Pikachu, who was the only one capable of summoning a thunder strike, let alone bold enough to do so on a clear day. "What happened?!"

"I-I don't know! My electricity went haywire all of the sudden!"

Grovyle glared at him, then at Vincent. "What happened? Were you two training? Thunder isn't a move to use freely like that!"

Vincent nodded slowly. "I asked if he could shoot a thunderbolt at me. I was going to show him how to direct his attacks mid-strike."

"Thunder and Thunderbolt are two very different moves. Aaron, what is the meaning of this? Was it a miscommunication, or-"

"Hey, lay off, man! I already said I lost control! I had a surge! It won't happen again!"

Grovyle grabbed his arm gently and said, "I know. But to lose control like that… people could have gotten hurt."

Aaron's cheeks buzzed with electricity, making Grovyle's arm go numb. "Let go of me."

"Aaron, you need to get this under control. You're fortunate that Basileus has Lightningrod as his ability, otherwise that could have- gah!" A shocking pain went up his arm and coursed throughout his entire body, forcing him to take a knee to avoid falling to the ground, and Aaron growled, "I said... let go of me."

Grovyle stood up and tried his best to remain calm, but a newfound anger managed to work its way into his head. "I showed you mercy when you attacked me in the forest… This time… I won't be so lenient."

Grovyle rushed forward in spite of Vincent's protests. He didn't think about it too much, but he was inexplainably impatient with this Pikachu, which was strange. Normally he wasn't one that succumbed to his emotions.

He swung with his leaf blade, but it was stopped by a glowing stick that appeared out of nowhere. He gasped and looked up to see a Farfetch'd glaring at him with a small smile at the edge of its beak. "Excuse me… He is mine."

Grovyle tilted his head slightly and swung again with his other arm experimentally, but the Farfetch'd parried another strike with what appeared to be little effort. Grovyle narrowed his eyes and focused more on this pokémon. _What? A Farfetch'd?_

Both of his arms' leaves condensed into single leaf blades as he crossed his hands in front of his head, and he started with an uppercut, but the Farfetch'd parried and deflected the attack into the ground, all in one motion. Grovyle roundhouse kicked at its head while pulling his arm out of the dirt, but it ducked beneath his leg and slammed his stick, -no, it was a leek- into his thigh. He winced as his leg tensed up and his muscles contracted, but he swung with his other arm while he regained his footing. The Farfetch'd blocked the strike again, and Grovyle's eyes widened. _This pokémon… can match my speed? How?_

The Farfetch'd smiled defiantly while they were at a standstill, with Grovyle's leaf blades pressed against its leek. "Grovyle the Time Gear Thief… Your speed is certainly no exaggeration."

Grovyle gasped and tried to kick the flying-type again, this time in the gut, but it blocked with a partial protect barrier focused around where he striked, (1.) then charged up an air slash with its other arm while he held the leek to block Grovyle's downward swing with his leaf blade. "However, while you may have the upper hand in speed, I can read your preparatory motions and react before you have time to strike."

Grovyle got over his shock and used his temporal power to slow down time. He stood up from his deadlocked position and swung at the Farfetch'd, but it blocked his swing just the same. He gasped and was thrown out of his temporal field after his attack was blocked, and the Farfetch'd shook its head. "Tsk, tsk! That's a dirty trick, Grovyle! I hadn't expected it from you!"

"Who _are_ you?"

"Me? I'm Leroy. Merely a humble Farfetch'd who's come to make sure his apprentice wasn't getting into trouble like he normally does. He's honestly been through so much… you'll need to cut him a break here and there."

"Aaron? You're that Pikachu's... teacher?" Grovyle's confusion overcame his anger, and he retracted his leaf blades. This Farfetch'd was only defending Aaron, so there was no need to waste any more energy than was absolutely necessary.

Leroy smiled warmly and lowered his leek. "Of course! Did you think he learned how to fight by himself? No! When I found him, he was unable to use Agility without running into a wall! Oh, goodness… That seems like so long ago… Then I sent him off to train on the Forest Continent."

"How did you know I slowed down time? And how did you still move at the same speed?"

"Oh… By doing that, you're merely decreasing our perception of time while increasing your own. My reflexes are swifter than a Lucario's, and I have mastered the use of focus energy. You'll find it difficult to beat me in sword-to-sword combat, no matter how fast you are."

"How does your leek block my leaf blades?"

"My, you are quite the curious one, aren't you?"

"Yeah, I am. I want to know how you could tell that I slowed down time, and a lot of other things."

" I am not a Temporal Guardian, if that's what you're wondering. I haven't received that honor."

"But that's the only explanation! Unless you're a Temporal Guardian, it's impossible for you to move that fast!"

"Grovyle… didn't you just tell your girl that nothing is impossible?"

He stared at the Farfetch'd in shock. The flying-type smiled and turned back to Aaron and began prodding him with his leek. "Now, how have you been holding up? I know you're a bit punch-happy, especially when people touch you... but you need to lighten up."

"Lighten up?! Leroy, you know-"

He put the leek over the Pikachu's mouth to silence him. "Shhh…. instead of getting angry, focus on the positive things around you… For example, I found you. It took a while, but I didn't give up on you. Not after what happened. And the sky. It is a beautiful shade of blue. And to think that you actually joined an Exploration Team! I never thought I would see the day…"

"Shut it. You're not that much older than me. And Team Firestorm's pretty cool, actually."

"Hm… Tell me about your new friends."

"For one, we want to know who you are." Connor stood behind Grovyle, along with everyone else, Insurgo and Team Firestorm alike. Leroy smiled and bowed humbly. "Team Firestorm. It is an honor to meet you. Before you ask any further questions, I would first like to apologize for intruding on your training grounds so carelessly. I am Leroy, the one responsible for this Pikachu named Aaron."

Dawn scoffed and crossed her arms. "That sounds rehearsed."

Leroy's eyes narrowed only slightly as he continued. "...Furthermore, I see that you have already accepted him as a member of your team. May I convince you to let me stay with you without granting me membership? I wish to keep an eye on my hot-headed apprentice." He smiled slightly as Aaron rolled his eyes.

Connor moved closer and appeared to be sizing him up. The Farfetch'd was only about two and a half feet tall, but he stared Connor down fearlessly. Connor humphed and said, "Dawn. Give me a background check."

"On it," Dawn's voice replied. She sounded a little bit angry, but her expression betrayed nothing.

Leroy simply stood there patiently. Grovyle tried reading his face for any signs of dishonesty, then Dawn nodded after a few seconds. "He's telling the truth..."

"Good enough for me. But… You're a flying type… Training an electric type? Pikachu aren't usually known for fighting in the air."

"He's a special case, you see… He doesn't rely on electric attacks as much as most of his species. He enjoys more of a hand-to-hand style of combat, which is what I excel at. I don't typically use flying in my day-to-day training."

"So Aaron doesn't actually have any training using his electricity?" Vincent asked.

"Not from me… But when I sent him to the Forest Continent, he picked up a few things."

"Huh. Alrighty then. That explains the big ol' thunderbolt. Aaron, you up for some electricity lessons in a minute?"

The Pikachu shrugged nonchalantly. "Why not?"

"So, Leroy, you just want to stick with us? How long were you thinking?" Vulcan asked.

"As long as you accept my company."

"...So you'll leave if we tell you to?"

"If that is what you wish, then I have no choice but to honor your command. But seeing as I am the only one that can calm Aaron's rather… fiery temper, in addition to my skill in the art of combat, I believe that you will find my presence more useful to your team than it is a hindrance. I will do my best to stay out of your way if you choose to accept my request."

Connor seemed to be rethinking his decision, but he eventually nodded. "...Geez, we're accepting anyone nowadays, aren't we? Well, if Dawn says you're good, then I guess you can stay with us."

Leroy nodded and bowed again. "Thank you, Connor."

"No prob. Just be sure to keep a close eye on Aaron if you're staying here."

Leroy smiled and bowed again. "Of course."

Grovyle walked up to him after everyone else had drifted away. "Leroy."

"Yes?"

"I want to know."

"You want to know… what? How I move so swiftly?"

"Yes... I am… intrigued, to say the least."

The Farfetch'd sighed and waved Aaron away while materializing a substitute clone. "Behave yourself, boy. My clone is still more then enough to take you on."

Aaron nodded and went off with Vincent and the fake farfetch'd, and the real Farfetch'd sat on the ground. "Well, ask away. I've got nothing to hide."

Grovyle sprouted a seat of vines and twigs and sat in it. Leroy didn't seem too fazed by that, which surprised him as well. "So…" Grovyle began, "I take it you've been around a while?"

"Oh, not that long. But… I have been around a lot longer than any of these kids."

"Kids?"

"Yes. They're just children. All in their late teens or early twenties. It is rather easy to tell based on the way they talk and hold themselves up. That Swampert's the leader, obviously. He's the first one that walked up to me, and at least half of the pokémon behind you were looking at him like they were waiting for his command."  
"So you don't know who Team Firestorm is?"

"I haven't a clue. Although I recall something about stopping the destruction of time… But it slipped my mind."

"How old are you?"

"I'm forty-seven. But after you hit thirty, your aging process slows down to a fraction of what it was." (2.)

"Then you're in no position to be calling these pokémon 'kids'."

"If we're getting technical, any pokémon that's twenty years younger than you can be classified as a kid. But that's beside the point."

"I expected you to be a bit older…"

"With all the skill and whatnot, if I were in your position, I would expect myself to be in my one-hundreds, even late one-hundreds."

"How did you get so good at such a young age?"

"Practice. Nothing to it but practice every day. I would say I have talent, but with that mind-reader on the loose, I don't want to be lying. Heh." He was already joking with him. Grovyle quickly got back on topic, trying to avoid an easy, conversational tone. "That still doesn't explain how you could still block my strike while I slowed down time. Or how you threw me out of my temporal field."

"It's all in reading the preparatory motions and reacting with enough speed. Time is relevant. I've already mentioned that all you do when you slow down time is increase your perception of it while decreasing others' around you. And if my perception of time is increased, say, with focus energy, and I manage to break your focus, then it simply negates your hold on the fabric of time around me."

"...What?"

"Really? I thought with being a Temporal Guardian and whatnot, you would be explaining this to me!"

"Wh-what you're saying doesn't make any sense. Just answer my question."

"I already have. If you wish to fight me again in the same manner as before to prove that my assumption is correct, I will gladly oblige."

Grovyle nodded and stood up and honed his mind. This Farfetch'd was good. He pushed the thought aside and dashed forward with quick attack. The Farfetch'd sidestepped and blocked Grovyle's tackle with steel wing. Grovyle's fist hit the flying-type's iron-hard wings with a devastating impact, and Leroy smiled as he stepped back and was enveloped in a white glow. Grovyle growled and dashed forward again, this time using razor leaf mid-stride as he closed in, but Leroy deflected the projectiles with his leek in one fluid motion while charging up an air slash with his other arm. Grovyle gasped, and before he could stop his dash, Leroy launched the air slash. Grovyle crossed his arms and used protect, then used quick attack again, but the Farfetch'd blocked with a protect barrier of his own. Grovyle growled again and used Razor Leaf, but Leroy moved to the side of the attack in a fraction of a moment, letting the leaves fly past him harmlessly.

 _There's no way he's not a Temporal Guardian… but even if he were… There are already twelve beings chosen. And I have never seen him before._

Then the Farfetch'd flapped its wings once. Before Grovyle could think about what the attack was, hundreds of feathers appeared out of thin air and stuck to his skin like velcro, coating him in over six inches of feathers. Leroy casually moved forward and placed the end of his leek on Grovyle's chest, while he was powerless to stop it due to his restricted mobility. "You fought well, Grovyle."

He stared at the little flying-type with awe. "How…"

"Like I said, it is difficult to beat me in sword-to-sword combat."

"...Hmph. So it is." Grovyle shook the feathers off and began to walk away, and the Farfetch'd bowed respectfully. "You have my respect, Grovyle. You are the first opponent that I have ever had to apply myself to best in a one-on-one battle."

"Thanks. You too."

 _That pokémon… he's good. Really good. But I only used leaf blades and razor leaf. I haven't used anything else. But from the looks of it, he wasn't giving it his all, either. But… how is he so good? And more importantly… how can he still move while time is stopped?_

* * *

 **D'awww snap!** **This Farfetch'd is a beast! How did it beat Grovyle?! Big question! Bam! Also, what is Victor planning...?**

 **As always, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, and liked this last fight scene! I thought it was pretty awesome, even if Grovyle did lose... If you guys have any questions, comments, concerns or theories about what might happen, leave them in the form of a Review or PM! It is always appreciated! Now for the Authors' notes!**

 **(1.) With enough practice, a pokémon that uses protect could concentrate it around a certain area to block more effectively. Even though Protect is practically indestructible, when Leroy blocked right where Grovyle was going to strike, it allowed for him to follow up with a counterattack without lowering the barrier. Thus... Sometimes it works better to use a partial protect barrier.**

 **(2.) In my stories, if you haven't already figured it out, the Pokemon age a lot like elves in The Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit. They age normally for about the first twenty-five to thirty years of their life, then pretty much stop aging. So pokemon are children for about ten years, then become adolescents in their teenage years, then grow into adulthood, then take forever to actually grow old. But, if they've lived a full life and want to grow old, then they can consciously speed up their aging process. But they really have to mean it.**

 **Okay, I hope my notes made sense! Once again, thank you all for reading, and thank you Chille3001 for submitting Leroy the Farfetch'd! I will see you all in the next update! Much Love!**

 **-PL**


	28. I'm Coming Home

**-Chapter XXVIII: I'm Coming Home-**

 **-Widow-**

"Flatline, could you be a dear and hold this?"

She handed the wonder bag to him and said, "Since you won't be flying while we're in there-"

"Halt!" A Magneton flew overhead, and Flatline cursed. "Great… They probably recognize us."

"Shut up! Victor said that we don't have to worry as long as this Zoroark is here."

Sure enough, the Magneton flew over their heads and stopped in front of the Zoroark. In front of her eyes, its image transformed into a familiar Swampert, almost like a suit over itself. Sometimes it would falter and become a Zoroark for a split moment, but it was convincing enough to them. It was applying all of its illusory powers to the Magneton, so it was probably flawless.

*Zzzt! Connor! Zzzt! What brings you here?"

"...does he not see us, or…?"

The Zoroark replied in what she assumed was a perfect impression of the Swampert, "Soulburner, a Chandelure recently detained by Team Blackmist, attacked some of my team members. I wish to speak with him."

*Zzzt! I cannot allow that! He is a ten star rank criminal, arrested for thirty-seven murders and escaping arrest on nine separate occasions!"

"With all due respect, officer Magneton, how many ten star rank outlaws are there? We've only handled up to nine stars."

*Zzzt! There are seven ten star rank outlaws. He is one, and only three were ever successfully captured. The rest have gone into hiding, using other criminals to do their bidding. Zzzt!*

"...Ah. What were their names? I could probably apprehend them with my team."

The Magneton shook its body. *Zzzt! That is classified. Zzzt! Only the chief of police, Magnezone, can give away such information. Zzzt!* Then it looked around for a moment, completely overlooking them. Widow suppressed a laugh. "This is too easy… We need to add a Zoroark to our group."

*Zzzt! Where is Vulcan? Zzzt! As I recall, you two are normally inseparable. And wasn't Sharpedo Bluff the site of a massive explosion? Zzzt!*

"Y-yes… Vulcan is healing up in a secret location. We are currently being hunted down by a mysterious group of pokémon, and I believe that Soulburner is affiliated with them."

*...Zzzt! Very well! I will allow you access. But only for a little bit. And only because it's you, Connor! Zzzt!*

It turned around and stared right at Flatline. *Zzzt! When did Vincent arrive? And Rose? Zzzt!*

Flatline tilted his head slightly. "Vincent…?"

Widow did a mental face-palm. This Zoroark's illusions are amazing. To disguise us as members of team firestorm… and cover our voices! But why would Victor… Oh. She smiled slightly and laughed to herself. This is interesting… If this works, it might be worth the effort...

The Swampert-Zoroark shrugged. "I asked if they could tag along, for… you know, making sure that Soulburner stays where he belongs. And Vincent knows Teleport. That's how he got here."

*Zzzt! Hm. So you say he knows teleport… interesting. If you would follow me, please! Zzzt!*

The Swampert-Zoroark walked past them with a smug expression, and Widow rolled her eyes. "Let's follow them… Vincent."

Flatline chuckled and agreed. "Let's go."

 **-Roy-**

He shouted in pain as Dusknoir used dark pulse, blasting him backwards. He was thrown into the nearest tree, his spectral skin smoking and dissolving from the pulse of pure malevolent thought.

Dusknoir closed his fists and said, "Now… again."

Roy rolled his eyes and replied, "I don't see the point in-" He flew to the side as Dusknoir lobbed a massive shadow ball at him.

Roy grunted and closed his eyes, and pictured the shadows being drawn into him again. The cold darkness pressed against his skin, and he willed his being to become one with the shadows, just as Dusknoir had explained. He'd done it a couple times before, but Dusknoir insisted that he took too long. Apparently it should take no longer than two seconds.

As the darkness poured into him, his wounds healed and his spectral skin pulled itself together until it was back to normal. He took a deep breath and smiled slightly after opening his eyes. "How was that?"

"Still too slow. I could have easily hit you with another shadow ball or Dark Pulse as soon as you ceased your movement."

"Come on! How long did it take?"

"...About six seconds."

"Ugh! Can we please move on to something else? I've already learned teleportation, molding shadows into actual three-dimensional objects, shadow-traveling vast distances by myself, using will-o-wisp to make shadows around the opponent for me to use, and I know how to heal myself using shadows. I just won't be able to do it mid-battle. What else is there?"

"There is only one more thing I am able to inform you of… but, unfortunately, it is not something that can be taught."

"...Huh? What, you mean only I can do it?"

"No, all ghost-types are capable of it… You know of Mega Evolution. What it is capable of doing to a pokemon."

"Of course. Connor, Vulcan and Alice have all done it."

"Yes, yes… Well, Ghost-types can undergo a further, temporary form of evolution that is the same, yet different than the evolution all other pokémon use… we can unleash our spirits in their rawest, most uncontainable form."

"Unleash our… spirits?"

"Yes. Ghost-types have a unique trait… a… gift, if you must call it that. We're not bound to the physical plane like every other type."

"And… what is this 'spirit' capable of?"

"Think of your current form right now as a vessel. It is a manifestation of all of your emotions and feelings and thoughts… your spirit. Your body, by definition, is a soul. It is the life after death, the thing that makes you able to think and feel and… be alive."

"But… I'm not alive…"

"Ah, but you're here, talking, thinking, communicating with me. Even if your physical body died, you're still alive, Roy."

"...That… doesn't make any sense. How can I be dead, but alive? And Dawn said I was dead when we first met. Care to explain that?"

"She sensed a soul that was far away from its host body. A soul by itself would normally be taken by a Dusknoir, such as myself, but if it is imbued with enough of your past self… it is possible to become a ghost-type and still roam the world after death, exempt from reaping until its purpose is complete. Whether that be avenging its death, somebody else's mistakes, or fixing their own mistakes... It's extremely rare, only happening on two occasions that I know of, but it is possible."

"So my spirit is alive, but my body is dead… or my soul- What's the difference between a soul and a spirit?"

"Your spirit is everything that makes you… well, you. While your soul is just the… material form that your spirit resides in."

"So if I unleash my spirit… what happens?"

"I cannot say. That would depend on the primary emotions driving you. If it is anger, then I would dare say that you would destroy every pokémon that ever did you harm, while consumed by absolute darkness. If it is joy, or humor, or other similar emotions… then you will be one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen, cloaked in a white light unlike anything else in the world."

"My… that sounds strange, coming from you."

"Yes… you must forgive me… I have spent most of my life in darkness... in a grey, bleak, dreary world. Connor was not exaggerating when he told you how dreadful it was. As such, beautiful things, to me, are much different than most other pokémon."

"Uh-huh… Still strange. But whatever. So how do I do it?"

"I can't teach you how… only if the three circumstances are met can you unleash your spirit."

"What are the three circumstances?"

"You must be severely wounded by another pokémon, angrier than you have ever been before, and you must be willing to sacrifice yourself to protect someone else."

"Seriously? That specific?"

"Yes. And, sadly, you can't trick or manipulate your way through those steps. I've tried it. I still have yet to unleash my true form. But I know it's in there… lying in wait. I think the same applies to you."

Roy sighed and said, "So you don't know any other Incantations or anything, huh?"

"My species is not capable of higher-level incantations and spells. However, I do know of another pokémon that lives in your era that can teach you the things that I cannot."

"Oh, goodie! What species is it?"

"A Delphox named Valerie. If my memory serves, she is not well-known to the mass population, but to those that have heard of her, her mastery of every spell imaginable makes her reputation as a witch all the more believable."

"Oh, wow! That's incredible! Do you know what kinds of Incantations this Delphox could teach me?"

"Well, there are spells of poison, spontaneous explosions, transformation, good luck, bad luck, levitation, teleportation, illusion, possession of another's body, and many others that I cannot think of at the moment."

"Levitation and Teleportation aren't really necessary, though… right?"

"If you were to transform or possess another pokémon, and still wished to fly or teleport, then yes. But even so, finding her is a daunting task."

"Oh, yeah, she's not gonna be much help." Vincent said. He had appeared behind them, and Roy tilted his head. "Excuse me?"

"The Mafia killed her."

"...Is that so?" Dusknoir asked.

"No. She can't be dead." Roy said. "She sounds too powerful to die that easily."

"They have her petrified form as a statue in the main room. Along with... Rose." He forced the last name out, and Roy looked to the ground. "Ah. Well, that's disappointing."

"No. That is not true." Dusknoir said with confidence. "I have done extensive research on your era before my trip to the past."

Vincent scoffed and crossed his arms. "Oh, yeah, I forgot, 'great Dusknoir'."

Roy sighed and said, "Vincent… Please just give him a chance. Connor, Vulcan and Atlas took almost a whole week to even tolerate him."

"You know what he did, Roy." Vincent said with bitter disgust.

"Of course I do! But I don't really care at the moment! He's here to help! Grovyle, Dawn, Amber, Briar, Basileus, Mirage and Alice can all confirm it!"

Vincent scowled and shook his head. "Pokémon don't change that easy."

Roy big back a mocking laugh. "Oh… yes they do. Pokémon can change on a dime," Roy said. "Not even two weeks ago, Atlas was a happy Machamp that enjoyed fighting on the side, right?"

"Uh-huh…"

"And now he's driven solely by revenge. All he wants right now is to find Mordred and kill him. You see where I'm going with this?"

Vincent narrowed his eyes warily, but looked at Dusknoir and said, "So… you've been reading?"

"Yes. And I can confirm that this Delphox was alive for many, many years, and could have quite possibly outlived the era of Team Firestorm."

"Are you sure it's not another reality on that big 'temporal tree' thing?" Roy asked.

"Our timelines are directly connected, Roy. Grovyle and I… along with the rest of the Insurgo, are connected to your branch on the Temporal Tree. That Delphox is alive, if my assumptions are correct. Which more often than not, are." Dusknoir replied with a knowing tone.

"Alright! So now we just have to find her, right?" Roy smiled, and Dusknoir shook his head. "Under the current circumstances, we would be hunted down before we made it very far. It's best to stay with the team, or close by. There is safety in numbers right now, even for us. That Noivern and Ariados aren't accustomed to taking down large numbers of pokémon. That is why they haven't attacked us as a group yet."

"Ugh! This is so boring! I truly miss being able to do whatever I wished after missions…" He sighed wistfully, and Vincent rolled his eyes slightly. "Fine. You guys do you. I was just checking in, per Connor's instruction."

"Tell him that I said hi!" Roy called out as Vincent teleported away. Roy sighed and said, "Dusknoir… how can you help the same team that doesn't trust you?"  
"I am just looking to repay them for any pain that I inflicted upon your leaders, and first recruits, such as Atlas, Vincent and Mirage. And... Grovyle is like a brother to me. I will follow him to the end of the world if he asks."

"My, my… I never expected you to say that about Grovyle… what exactly went on in the future?"

Dusknoir took a deep breath and righted himself. "Well, we must finish your training. We will not stop until you can heal yourself in under one and a half seconds."

Roy sighed as he realized that Dusknoir wouldn't reveal any information. "But what if I get tired?"

"You're healing your entire body repeatedly. You won't 'get tired'."

"...Fiiiine." Roy deadpanned as he rose from the ground. "Hit me with a shadow punch this time. I don't like Dark Pulse."

 **-Connor-**

He was lounging in a shallow hot spring close to the training grounds, along with Briar, Alice and Galvantula. This was the first real relaxing moment they'd had, except for the whole situation with Aaron and that Farfetch'd. Apparently he could beat Grovyle in one-on-one combat, which came as a shock to just about everyone. Grovyle wouldn't come out of the temporary shelter that he'd made after his defeat.

Galvantula joked about it for quite a while, saying that Grovyle wouldn't show his face for a week, but eventually the absolutely deadly looks he got from Briar made him stop on a dime.

Vincent materialized nearby and strode up to them. Connor had asked him to check up on Dusknoir and Roy.

"So how'd it go?"

"Fine." Vincent said. "They were talking about some Delphox that knows magic and could help Roy learn how to cast better incantations or something. Oh, and Roy says hi."

"Good, good… But what about the Delphox?"

"Valerie." Briar said. She lifted herself out of the water and sat on the edge of the springs, letting her feet soak. "She's supposedly a mythical pokémon, but not by classification. Her prowess in the world of spellcasting and incantations is unrivaled, even by pokémon from our timeline."

"Uh-huh… How have we never heard of her?" Connor asked.

"Because she keeps her existence a secret from all but those who she trusts."

"Yeah, but I already told Dusknoir that the Mafia got her-"

Briar shook her head quickly. "I'd imagine that it was most likely a decoy. She wouldn't fall so easily."

"What? You act like you knew her."

"I do know her. Well, did. When I was a Grovyle in this time period."

"So… will she recognize you as a Sceptile?"

"I would think so. We were quite close before I was brought to the Hidden Land with Basileus."

"Dang, we know all sorts of people, don't we?" Galvantula said. "I didn't know you knew Valerie."

"I wasn't allowed to speak of it to anyone. She made me swear by Arceus, until such a time as she was needed by someone of great importance, I would not tell another being. I think this qualifies."

"So…" Connor pressed, "You're saying we should find her… and let her train Roy?"

"Precisely. He is the ghost of magic, when it comes to ghost-types. Under her leadership, he could quite possibly become the most powerful ghost-type aside from Giratina himself."

"But don't ghost-types have Alphas?" Alice asked. "If that were the case, then the Alpha Mismagius should be able to beat him."

"Simply being the Alpha isn't a guaranteed win against others of your species. Basileus and I are evenly matched, and he is the Alpha."

"...That's weird." Alice replied.

Vincent nodded slowly and asked, "Can I chill with you guys?"

"Sure, come on in." Connor pat the surface of the water and used scald, superheating his hand and making a fresh wave of heat. Vincent slowly sunk up to his neck in the water and let out a massive sigh. "Ahhh… This is nice."

"Yeah… Almost like we aren't being run down."

Vincent smiled slightly, but didn't laugh. "Yeah… Sort of." Then he looked at Connor and said, "Promise me… that no matter what happens… we will beat these guys."  
He quickly replied, "Of course. I planned on it. No way I'm just gonna lose to some big criminal organization after we saved the world twice."

Vincent smiled and leaned his head against the dirt lining the edges of the spring. "...That's good… I feel better."

"Why?"

"Because… you're Connor. Leader of Team Firestorm. Saviour of the world… Twice! It's only because Vulcan was your best friend that we lost. With him on your side, and the amount of power you have… I know we'll pull through this just fine."

Then Roy appeared right in the middle of the spring. "BLAAAH!"

"Ah!" Vincent and Alice both shouted in unison. Roy giggled uncontrollably and slung a fake tear off with psychic as their shouts turned into a red mist and were drawn into the gems on his robe. "Oh, that was good… Hee-hee-ha-ha!" his eyes sparked with a new energy and he snickered some more.

Alice glared at him, and Vincent laughed. "Well… The moment's ruined."

Roy shrugged and smiled some more. "Well? What do you think?"

"About what?" Alice questioned.

His smile vanished on a dime as he looked at her. "...Fine, I won't tell you."

"Roy, you're being a little girl." Alice replied.

"Am not!"

"Just tell us," Connor said.

Roy smiled and said, "Well, if you insist… I can teleport now! Except with shadows! I can disappear into myself! Like this!"

In the blink of an eye, he vanished into a small swirl of darkness and reappeared right behind Briar. She narrowed her eyes and said, "Do not attempt to scare me."

Roy rolled his eyes playfully and appeared behind Galvantula in another instant. Galvantula laughed with amazement and said, "Bro, that is sick!"

Connor nodded and smiled slightly. "Huh. That's actually… pretty cool."

"And I learned a whole bunch of new tricks! Like this…" The shadows all around the forest swirled around him and brushed against Briar's shoulder. Then, the shadows came together until a pitch-black Sceptile with eyes as dark as obsidian was sitting in the hotsprings with them. It was made entirely of shadows, and it made Connor shudder uncomfortably just looking at it. "Roy, stop it. That's weird."

Roy tilted his hat, and the shadows dissipated and returned to their rightful places. "So… yes, I overheard talk of me, so I came by to see what it was about!"

"We were talking about possibly letting you train under the instruction of Valerie." Briar replied nonchalantly.

"Oh? I thought Vincent said that the Mafia got her."

"He was misinformed. The Delphox that I know would never allow herself to be captured, let alone killed."

"'That you know'…? Is there something I'm missing?"

"Briar knows her personally. Well, did. When she's a Grovyle in this timeline." Galvantula giggled. "Man, that's weird to say… I'm used to Grovyle being a Grovyle."

Briar sighed and closed her eyes. "Yes… I will discuss this with Amber tomorrow. We will accompany your team to Treasure Town while you gain leads on her. She is not an outlaw, by definition, but I have confidence that either Chatot or Wigglytuff knows something about her, and could provide enough clues to pinpoint her whereabouts."

"Okay… So we leave tomorrow?"

"I would like to leave as early as possible tomorrow, yes."

"Alright. We'll talk to the rest of the team about it tonight." Connor confirmed. "At least it gives us something to do. And I want to check up at the guild anyways."

"Alright." Briar raised herself out of the springs and shook herself off. She began walking away, and he sighed with tears in his eyes. "We're about to go home…"

* * *

 **Okay Guys... I think you know what's happening in the next few chapters... This story is coming to a close soon, meaning I must make the next story, which means no uploads besides Firestorm Battle Royale for probably five-six months. But I'm not gonna get all sappy yet! It's still going!**

 **As always, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Dusknoir is teaching Roy some advanced stuff about being a ghost! And apparently they're going back to Treasure Town! That's good! So if you guys enjoyed, or had any questions, comments, concerns or theories about what might happen, feel free to put them in the form of a Review or PM and send them to me! It's always nice to see that people like my stuff! I will see you all this evening, since I am going out of town in a couple weeks! Much Love!**

 **-PL**


	29. In the Eye of the Dreamscape

**-Chapter XXIX: In the Eye of the Dreamscape-**

 **-Roy-**

Later that night, after everyone had calmed down and properly introduced themselves to Leroy, the noble Farfetch'd who made Grovyle look inexperienced at fighting, they ate around a moderately large fire.

And Atlas was awake and in somewhat stable condition now. Sometimes his shadow fist would act up and pull random shadows, but he was working on calming it down.

Roy sat next to Dusknoir while silently enjoying his kasib Berry, gently roasted to a wonderful crisp on the outside. Dusknoir was enjoying a Colbur berry raw, which made Roy a little sick. He didn't like raw Colbur, but maybe that was a personal preference.

He shrugged and continued eating. Then Briar stood up out of nowhere and said, "Everyone, I would like your attention."

Roy already knew what it was about, as did Connor, Galvantula, Alice and Vincent. So he just continued eating normally.

Briar looked around for a moment before continuing. "We… Connor and I… have decided to enlist the help of Wigglytuff's guild."

Roy tilted his head at that statement and paused mid-chew. That wasn't what he had gotten from that conversation earlier at all.

The rest of the team had begun murmuring and whispering amongst themselves, and Caroline, of all pokémon, spoke up. "How? Isn't Treasure Town the first place the Mafia will look for us? They probably have some spies camped there on the lookout for us, right?"

"Correct. However, we will not enter Treasure Town. We will go straight to Wigglytuff's guild, which lies on the very outskirts, and use Galvantula's camouflage webbing to conceal our presence before we arrive."

"What makes you think that they'll help us if we do go to them?" Aaron questioned. Everyone scowled at him, but Roy just laughed. "Hee-hee-hee! Aaron, Connor and Vulcan are Wigglytuff's Guild's prized recruits! There's not a thing in the world that Wigglytuff or Chatot or any one of their former guildmates wouldn't do for them!"

Aaron nodded and crossed his arms slowly. "Alright. That's good. But what if something else happens? Briar? From what Galvantula told me, you seem to plan for every worst-case scenario."

Briar glared at the yellow arthropod, but agreed. "Yes. I have prepared for many scenarios, and this is the one I have concluded to have the highest probability of success. I will stand on the grate at the entrance of the Guild, allowing us access. Then the rest of you will follow me down to the lowest chamber under the cover of Galvantula's webbing. Connor, you, and you alone will reveal your presence to Chatot after I have confirmed that there are no other pokémon there. I have confidence that he will understand the situation fully. While he is busy with your team, I will speak with Wigglytuff. He and I have some history together, and I should be able to get the necessary information."

Roy snickered some more. "Goodness me, first Team Charm, now Wigglytuff's got some secret history with a Temporal Guardian?"

"This was long before I was chosen. It was when I was still a Grovyle."

"Uh-huh… So… when are we doing this?"

"As soon as possible tomorrow."

Connor nodded and stood up while Amber placed a hand on his shoulder. "Then that settles it. We've got to get to sleep and be prepared for whatever happens tomorrow."

Atlas bit back a laugh from his resting position. "Connor, I've practically been in a coma for the past day and a half. I think I'm good on the sleeping part."

"As am I," Roy added.

Connor shrugged and went back to their new shelter. "Suit yourselves."

Caroline blinked heavily and yawned. "You guys are crazy… I'm gonna have a great nap."

Roy smiled and waved her off with a shadowy hand. "You do that."

He laughed to himself some more as the sun disappeared over the horizon. He felt his being strengthen even further as the darkness settled in. Dusknoir's eye dimmed slightly until he yawned with his stomach-mouth. It was quite terrifying to look at, since it opened so wide that it could probably swallow him whole.

"Well… Resting does sound nice right now…" Dusknoir sighed and floated upwards. "I am going to take a nap. Goodnight, Roy."

"Goodnight. And… thanks."

"What for?" Dusknoir turned back to him, and Roy smiled some more. "For training me and teaching me how to do all of this. I never could have learnt it all by myself."

"Ah… Yes. You're welcome." Dusknoir shook a look of confusion off of his face before sinking into the ground and drifting away.

Roy leaned back and watched the sunset as everyone slowly drifted away, back to the shelter.

Once he was sure he was alone, he let out a long, loud sigh. _My, my… Things certainly have changed…_

 **-Victor-**

He was reading over the latest report of captured outlaws, looking for any possible recruits he could take in. So far, all of the big and bad outlaws have been in hiding due to Team Firestorm. That team had almost unknowingly caused the destruction of his group several months ago. At one point, major crimes all throughout Immanis completely ceased for about four days. That was during the time when their leaders evolved into their final forms, and were probably testing out what they could do after some training. Every outlaw had grown to fear them.

The word was already getting around that Team Firestorm was finished. The plan he had set in motion to finish them off was proceeding nicely, according to Koumori.

He sighed and tossed aside another poster of an outlaw. An Emolga, from the looks of it. But it was merely a low-class thief. "Ugh… No one worth recruiting here…"

"Master Victor… I've received intelligence from Koumori." Nagini slithered into the chamber, and Victor nodded. "Continue."

He'd had a mandatory mind-reading for every pokémon just after he found out that Vincent was hiding amongst them. As an additional security measure, he'd posted a psychic-type at every major location. If they felt anything suspicious, they were to confront the threat. Nagini was truly Nagini.

"...Koumori says that they are planning to acquire aid from Wigglytuff's guild."

Victor smiled. This was going just as planned. But his smile faded when Nagini continued. "However... there are even more pokémon with them. This time, a Galvantula, Farfetch'd, Pikachu, and two Sceptiles, along with the Ralts and the other allies were seen with them."

Victor nearly snarled at that statement, but maintained his composure. "Are they officially members? Do they have badges?"

"I… I don't know."

"Find out."

"Yes sir. Right away."

Victor sighed and turned to Mordred as Nagini exited the room. "These pokémon are resourceful… No other team has lasted this long, let alone put up this much of a fight. But it will be all over soon. These assassins are playing along quite well. The same goes for Eclipse. And I presume you know what to do once the plan is complete? Rogue will without a doubt target Jade. The Assassins will likely take down Vulcan or Atlas first. Connor… He is in an entirely different league. He will require special effort to finish off. He was holding back on Vulcan. I know that for a fact. He will likely use any means necessary to take us down, and he will not show any leniency when doing so."

"...Sir, who do you propose can take him on, let alone win? His item covers his only weakness, and without that weakness, he is simply too powerful."

"...I will have to think about it. For now, standby until we receive word from Koumori. We will sit back and let the police do their job."

 **-Roy-**

He sat against a boulder just outside of the base. He'd stayed awake through the night, honing his skills and shadow manipulation. His teleporting was much more precise now, and he could make even better shadow objects. With a little more practice, he could possibly make semi-sentient beings completely out of shadows. This Valerie pokémon sounded like quite the spell-caster. She could most likely teach him things he'd never even thought of. After sunrise, they would head to Wigglytuff's guild, then from there they'd go and find this magical Delphox.

He smiled and took a deep breath. That Farfetch'd was insanely good with his leek, and along with Aaron and Dawn on their team, things were finally looking alright for them.

"Hey." Dawn teleported next to him, and he arched an eyebrow. "What are you doing up? It's not even dawn yet. I mean, like, sunlight dawn. Not… you."

She smiled warmly and opened her eyes, which seemed to shine with a brilliance that made him unexplainably warm on the inside. "I just… wanted to talk to you."

"Oh. Well, what do you want to talk about?"

"I don't know… Um…"

"Actually, I have a question to start off. Just thought about it now, actually."

"Okay. What is it?"

"Can psychics really not see ghosts? Or was that something you did to cover up that whole 'being blind' thing?"

She laughed nervously and rubbed the back of her head. "Well… I might have made it up. But I don't know if it's true or not, since I can't see anyways."

"Hm. Alright. That answers that, I guess."

"...What's your cape for?"

"My cape?"

"Yeah. I can always feel you wearing it. Is it special, or did someone give it to you... or something?"

"It was actually a gift… From someone… I don't remember. When I am attacked, occasionally it will emit a miniature perish song that affects only my attackers."

"Oh… That's really cool!"

"Thank you!"

Then she tilted her head slightly and seemed to stare at him more intently. He leaned back and stared right back. "...Are you alright?"

"Yeah… Sorry." She shook her head and smiled. "I just… I dunno. For a moment… You felt like someone else."

"It's alright. I've learned to just accept things as they are. It helps with the anxiety attacks during times like this. But… if you don't mind me asking… Were you always... unable to see?"

She teared up and shook her head, a barely audible whimper coming forth. "No."

Roy sighed and looked to the ground. "Ah. I… I'm sorry."

"It's fine…" She sniffed and wiped her face with her arm. "Are you going to ask me how long I've been like this?"

"...I didn't think about it until you asked." Then he paused for a moment before saying, "And this is one of those moments where I'm thinking about it now... Aaaand now I'm gonna ask."

Dawn just stared at him with an unchanging look of sadness. "...It's been almost eight years now."

He did some quick math in his head. "Oh… You were eleven when it happened…"

"Not quite."

He tilted his head slightly. "Uh… Nineteen minus eight is eleven, right?"

She smiled for a brief moment and let out a short laugh. "Yeah, your math is good… But… I'm not nineteen."

"Huh? Are you older?"

"Yeah… I'm really twenty-seven. That's when your aging factor starts to slow down and pretty much stops."

He stared at her incredulously. "...Oh. Well, you look marvelous for almost thirty. But, if you don't mind me asking, why aren't you evolved? The rest of the team is evolved, and they're all around twenty!"

"I haven't been able to evolve. I told Connor that. And I don't know why. Luminous Springs keeps saying I don't have the proper qualifications. Something about 'finding that which was lost', which I don't understand. I should be able to evolve without anything else. I just want to be evolved…"

Roy furrowed his brows and racked his mind, trying to think of any possible explanation. She was a female, so being a Gallade was out of the question, as far as he knew. Aside from that, there was nothing else that could explain Luminous Springs acting up. Unless some other disturbance was being caused by nine temporal Guardians being here at the same time. But she hasn't been able to evolve for some time, judging by her age and power, so that couldn't be it either. He had no idea what could explain it. _finding that which was lost…? Her vision? No… That can't be it._

"Perhaps Dusknoir would know-"

"No."

"...What? He's like the smartest pokémon besides Briar-"

"I told only you for a reason, Roy. Nobody else needs to know."

"...If you insist. I will continue to keep your secret."

"Thank you… But Roy… I… I can't help but feel like… I know you from somewhere."

"What do you mean? You've never met me before a week ago, and I've been dead for some time now, I think!"

"...What is your name?"

"My name? It's Roy."

"I mean, your real name… The one that you had in your past life?"

"Oh… Um… I don't know."

He put a psychic block over his mind immediately afterwards. He didn't need her reading his memories. He'd received enough bits and pieces of memories to form a good picture of who he was. And he didn't like it.

Then he felt the air around him cool rapidly, out of nowhere. If he could feel it, that meant that it was extremely cold. Dawn's breath frosted in the cold air to testify the temperature. She wrapped her arms around herself and began shivering. Roy looked around for Jade, but Dawn shook her head slowly. "It's not her..."

The glow in his eyes died down , but he shrugged and removed his cape with psychic. "Here. It's surprisingly warm."

He draped it across her shoulders, and she wrapped it around herself. It's violet coloration was overridden by a light green hue with flakes of gold throughout it. His eyes widened as Dawn smiled warmly. "Wow… It is. I expected it to be like a sheet…"

Roy looked at it more closely. "Hey, Dawn… do you mind removing it for a moment?"

She gave him a confused expression, but removed the cape with psychic. Immediately, its normal coloration returned. He narrowed his eyes and said, "Here. Sorry. It looked like it had a new tear in it."

She smiled as he draped it across her shoulders again. The green and gold coloration returned, but he let it go. As long as it wasn't permanently like that, it was fine. He liked purple.

Dawn moved forward and uprooted the nearest dead tree, making it levitate in the air. She closed her fist, and the trunk split into hundreds of twig-sized pieces of wood, along with several dozen medium-sized logs. Then she piled them to the side and made a small stack in front of them.

"Roy, could you…?"

"Of course." He used mystical fire and lit the wood ablaze. Dawn scooted closer to the flames and sat down. She closed her eyes and laid on the ground. It was hard for him to imagine that she was blind. She could see so well…

"Dawn?"

"Yes?"

"Do you mind if I… let you see?"

"What?"

 **-Dawn-**

After he said that, her jaw practically dropped. "How?"

"I could… put you into a dream-like state where I can control what we see… I could give you sight for a little while."

Dawn teared up and covered her mouth. "Roy… You'd do that for me?"

"Well, it's not like it's breaking any laws of nature. It is simply putting you in a dream."

She shrugged and closed her eyes. It didn't make much of a difference, but she felt dizzy for a brief moment, and Roy's voice followed. "Open your eyes."

Dawn slowly opened her eyes, half-expecting to not see anything… But what she saw was much more than that. In front of her was Roy, as a purple and pink ghost wearing a dark purple robe with three red gems, and a big indigo hat.

 _Oh. He does look like a girl…_ Then she shook her head and tears of joy came forth as she realized what that first thought meant. "I can see…? I can see! I can see! Oh, thank you Roy! Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"Of course. It's only a dream, though… I can't restore your vision quite yet, but after I meet Valerie… I'll see to it that you are restored to your rightful self."

"Dream… Right… But can we still feel stuff in here?"

"Only if I want to. For example…" His eyes flashed white, and they were standing in the middle of a dense jungle. Dawn looked around, taking in the beautiful noises and the humid air, then looked back at him, and for a brief moment, she thought she saw someone else in his place. Someone… that she used to know. But when she blinked, Roy was floating there. She looked around, awestruck by the beauty of being able to see once again.

"Arceus, I forgot how beautiful the world is… It's so colorful."

"It's not nearly as bad as everyone makes it out to be."

She smiled some more and sat on the ground, making sure not to close her eyes. "This is incredible…"

Roy floated slightly closer to her and smiled warmly. "Do you like it?"

She stood up and levitated upwards until she was at eye level with him. "I love it…" Then she floated closer, and just as she leaned towards him, he shook his head. "It's just a dream, Dawn. I'm not actually here."

"Right…" She took a shaky breath and looked to the ground. "Just a dream…" Her sadness was replaced by bliss as a horde of Combee flew overhead in hot pursuit of a Mothim. She leapt through the underbrush to chase after them, laughing with joy and running through the forest, eyes wide open the entire time.

* * *

 **Haha! Another extra Chapter to make up for two weeks of inactivity! So... I hope you guys enjoyed that chapter! Lots more questions about stuff! What does Dawn have to find to evolve? What is the Mafia planning? Will they ever find Valerie? I thought that last part of the chapter was sweet. Let me know what you guys think! If you have any questions, comments, concerns or theories, feel free to put them in the form of a Review or PM! I always like seeing feedback! I will see you all later in the next update! Much Love!**

 **-PL**


	30. Falling for Heartbreak

**-Chapter XXX: Falling for Heartbreak-**

 **-Roy-**

"Gooooood morning, you lovebirds!"

Roy opened his eyes, and Galvantula was perched on a branch above him, dangling from a strand of webbing.

"Gah! What?"

Galvantula snickered and said, "Man, you've sure got charm, lemme tell ya! Ha!"

"...What?" Then he looked to his side, and Dawn was lying next to him, pressed up against his body, sound asleep with a small smile on her face. How had he not woken up?

"Uh… Okay, I can explain… ah..."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah… That's what they all say!" Galvantula giggled. "I'm gonna tell Alice! Ha-ha!"

Roy sat up with a jolt and glared at him. "Hey, I'm serious!" _Perhaps I got a little too carried away with that illusion… Arceus, now I feel horrible._

Dawn's eyes shot open. "Huh? What's wrong?"

He looked at her and remained as calm as possible. "Why were you so close to me...?"

"Uh…" her cheeks turned a bright shade of red, and he shook his head. "Okay… Well, when you do that, it sends the wrong message to others."

"Yeah, others like me." Galvantula agreed. "I came out here to find you scrubs after we couldn't find you anywhere else, and guess what I see? I see you two practically spooning in the forest! You know how lucky you are that I found you, and not someone else?"

Dawn closed her eyes and began levitating away in a hurry. "Let's get back."

Roy stared at her as she drifted off, and Galvantula whistled as she floated away. "Okay, don't be mad at me. If it were anyone else from either party, it would've been way worse. Trust me, I'm like the most easygoing one here. Especially compared to Briar, Basileus and Celebi."

Roy sighed and said, "Galvantula… It's a one-sided feeling. She feels attracted to me as more than a friend, but I can't say the same. But it makes me sad, knowing that I will never feel anything more for her than strong friendship."

"Oh, I gotchu. You don't know how to break it to her, huh?"

"Yes… I don't know how. She isn't receptive to my implied messages, even though she can read minds." _And I let her kiss me in her dream… Which is not good. That totally gave her the wrong message._

"Meh. I can read minds too. Just not the same way she can. I can tell you that it only helps so much. She's crazy into you, though."

"But… I don't know why! I'm literally just being nice and treating her like she's normal!"

Galvantula smiled and said, "Okay, I'm not gonna read your mind to get what you mean by that. But yeah, I think that's why. Nobody else treats her the way you do. She ain't one of those shallow girls that just likes money and looks."

"So… what, I should stop being nice to her?"

"Not exactly. You're involuntarily doing things that lead her on, such as giving her your cape. That was a big move."

"She was cold."

"Pfft, yeah, she did that herself. Icy wind, brah."

"What? Why?"

"Seriously? Did you not get- Alright, I'll explain it slowly. She used icy wind. She made it cold outside. She wanted you to give her your cape, or get close to her, because she likes you. Make sense yet?"

"Yes… But I made a fire for the cold. Why would she go through all the extra effort, knowing that I don't feel the same way?"

"Okay, now you're just being redundant. We can't read emotions like Alice. We read minds. We can get direct thoughts, images and sounds. Aside from that… Nothing's really obvious."

"So she doesn't know if I like her or not?"

"She thought you did. But now… I don't know. I think she gets it now."

"Good." Roy sighed and shook his head. "I can't allow her to be heartbroken because of me." Galvantula pat his back and landed on the ground next to him. "Don't worry about it, bruh. We've all had girl problems."

"Really? Even you and Tyranitar?"

"Of course! T's like the cool guy that everyone wants to get with, and I'm his funny, smaller friend that gets all the rebounds!"

"I don't get it."

"Ladies love Tyranitar. I can't tell you how many of the Temporal Guardians have tried to get with him! Well… Actually, the only girls are Celebi, Lapras, Briar, Amber and Emm… wait a minute… I'm not supposed to talk about the other two. But they're smokin', lemme tell you!" Then he waved his arm in a dismissive gesture. "Ah, enough about girls. We're leaving for Treasure Town. That's why I came over here."

Roy nodded and floated upwards. "Alright. Time to find Valerie."

 **-Alice-**

"Alright, everyone! I found them!" Galvantula swung out of the forest and landed on the ground, accompanied by Roy and Dawn. As soon as Alice looked at Dawn, she felt an immense wave of grief wash over her. She sat down to avoid falling over from the headache. She shook her head clear and focused on Dawn.

 _Where did she get that coat…?_ Alice was intrigued by the fancy coloration of the piece of cloth she had draped across her shoulders.

 _Now now!_ Alice scolded herself and honed her attention. Everyone had begun asking Roy and Dawn where they went. Alice knew that Vincent wouldn't be able to read either of their minds. Dawn obviously had a psychic block up, and Roy was immune to mind reader. While Roy was pretty much the same as always, except for a single spark of shame, Dawn was an entire maelstrom of negative emotion.

 _Not good._ Alice sighed and thought to herself. _Dawn knows I can read emotions. If I confront her now about anything that happened, she'll block me out entirely._

Then she looked between the two, reading her body language, until she nearly gasped out loud. _Oh! Dawn… I'm so sorry… Heartbreak is the worst… Roy, you so led her on, didn't you?!_

She found herself glaring at Roy in spite of herself. She knew it wasn't his fault for not being able to love anyone the way they did. But it still made her angry to see anyone go through the same things she did. Especially another girl.

 _Oh, stop with your staring! Even I can sense it!_ Roy said with telepathy. Alice flinched, but didn't reply. After Roy and Dawn both got an earful from Connor, Briar, and Vulcan alike, Alice concluded that neither of them told anyone what had actually happened. And Galvantula knew what it was. But she knew he wouldn't say anything either, so she just pondered what was wrong.

 **-Connor-**

They had been walking in silence for about half an hour before Connor said, "So… why can't we just teleport?"

"Vincent's not strong enough to teleport this many pokémon, and I'm kind of… weakened right now." Dawn replied somewhat aggressively.

"Weakened? How?"

"When my emotions get all out of whack, it affects my psychic powers."

Connor sighed and sunk his shoulders. "Alright."

It obviously had something to do with Roy. He knew that Dawn liked the ghost-type, but… If Roy didn't like her back, which is what he's been claiming all this time...

 _She's probably mad that he doesn't like her back._

As they passed a familiar landmark, a trio of trees that intertwined like one enormous vine cluster, Connor called out just loud enough for the rest of the group to hear. "We're twenty minutes away from Treasure Town!"

"Alright!" Vincent did a fist-pump in the air. "We're almost home!"

"Remember," Briar immediately replied, "We aren't going in to Treasure Town. The Mafia more than likely has scouts or spies posted everywhere. We will head straight into Wigglytuff's guild. And Vincent, you will transform into another pokémon. The Police Force thinks you are dead, so if they see you, that will arouse suspicion."

"What? That's not fair!"

"Deal with it." Aaron spoke up. "Life isn't fair. The world's a mean and cruel place. It'll put you on your knees at every chance it gets. But it's not about how many times you're hit. It's how many times you can get up and keep moving forward. That's how you claim victory over bad pokémon like the ones after us."

"Whoa, where did _that_ come from?" Vincent jested. "I was joking."

Aaron shrugged and picked up his pace until he was up front with Connor and Amber. Connor smiled and said, "Well… We're almost there… It feels like we've been away a lifetime. But it's only been a week and a half, if that."

Aaron shrugged. "I've never been. It'll be a nice change of pace."

"A change of pace from what? We're not staying. We can't."

"Really? Why can't I? There's no way they know I'm with you guys!"

"They know a lot more than we think they know. They probably know we're on our way to Treasure Town right now, and are probably suspecting that we're gonna head to Wigglytuff's Guild." Connor said.

"Then why are we going?"

"Because we need his help. And they can help us find Valerie. It'll help Roy combat that Chandelure, and it'll give us someone else on our potential ally list!"

"I agree with that statement," Leroy said as he glided just over their heads. "Aaron, you always did have a hard time grasping the big picture."

"Oh, shut it, you..." Aaron stopped his insult mid-sentence.

"You what?" Leroy pressed

Aaron crossed his arms and scowled. "Nothing."

After that, they all walked in relative silence until they reached the dirt path that marked the crossroad leading away from Treasure Town. He could see Wigglytuff's guild perched atop the highest hill, with the morning sun rising behind them reflecting off of its glossy finish.

He began jogging and smiling at the familiar sight. "Come on! We're almost there!"

They all moved swiftly to keep up with him, and maybe thirty yards before they reached the intersection, they heard a shout. *Halt!*

Magnezone floated in front of them, making them all stop in their tracks. Vincent had apparently transformed into a Sawk while they weren't looking, because when Connor looked back, the tall, slender, blue pokémon was standing in the midst of the group.

*Zzzt! Connor, leader of Team Firestorm, you, Vincent and Rose are under arrest for freeing a ten star rank outlaw from the maximum security prison! Anything you say can and will be used against you in the jurisdiction of the law. Zzzt!*

"Whoa, what?!" Connor tried to move backwards, but three Magneton floated around him and surrounded him with an electromagnetic barrier. Somehow, the electricity still hurt him in spite of his ground typing. He stood in the center and stared incredulously at the Chief of Police. "What are you talking about?!"

*Zzzt! Do not pretend that you don't know. Zzzt! You freed Soulburner after using one of my officers to gain access! Zzzt!*

"No I didn't! Are you kidding me?!"

*Zzzt! It pains me to do this, Connor… Your team has done more for us than any other team in history. But rules are rules, and no pokémon is exempt from the law. Zzzt!*

"Hey, I can tell you, Magnezone, that he's been with us for the past week! We can all say that!" Vulcan growled as he stepped forward. "You will not take him away from us!"

*Zzzt! Vulcan, you know the law. Zzzt! If you interfere with an apprehension, then you will be taken into custody as well! Zzzt!*

"Magnezone, you're not listening! He was with us!"

*Zzzt! Chief, Vincent and Rose are not here! Zzzt!* A Magnemite floated over their heads, and Magnezone sighed, a metallic, echoing noise resonating through the air.

*Zzzt! I apologize Team Firestorm, but according to the rules set in place by the original chief of police… I am required to hereby strip your leader of Exploration Team Status, and as such, every member of Team Firestorm not directly involved will be sent back to their dungeons of Origin on charge of guilt by association. Zzzt!*

His magnets began rotating, and all of their badges were drawn off of their skin, directly to him. As soon as that happened, Alice asked, "Guilty by association? What does that even mean?!"

Aaron scowled and said, "It means that we're under arrest too. They think we knew that Connor was going to do that. And since we didn't tell anyone… We're guilty for not stopping a crime we knew was happening."

"That's so stupid!"

"That's the way laws work." Aaron sighed and hung his head low.

*Zzzt! We have acquired proof that your leader, along with Vincent and Rose, have used one of my officers to gain access to a Ten Star rank outlaw containment facility, then proceeded to free Soulburner, a vicious Chandelure, from our custody! Zzzt!*

"That's insane! Why would we do that?!"

*Zzzt! I do not know. Zzzt! However, because it is you, Connor... I will show you the proof. Zzzt!*

One of the Magneton's faces glowed white, and it cast a picture onto a sheet of metal that Magnezone constructed out of a metal burst attack. It was… him. A Swampert, the spitting image of himself.

"What…?" Connor was so surprised that he couldn't find the right words to say.

Then the picture started moving. Everyone's eyes widened as a video played forth, with audio and everything.

* * *

*Zzzt! Connor! Zzzt! What brings you here? Zzzt!*

"Soulburner, a Chandelure recently detained by team blackmist, attacked some of my team members. I wish to speak with him." he replied.

*Zzzt! I cannot allow that! He is a ten star rank criminal, arrested for countless murders and escaping arrest on multiple occasions!"

"With all due respect, officer Magneton, how many ten star rank outlaws are there?"

*Zzzt! There are seven that we know of. He is one, and only three were ever successfully captured. The rest have gone into hiding, using other criminals to do their bidding. Zzzt!*

"...Ah. What were their names? I could probably apprehend them with my team."

The Magneton shook its body. *Zzzt! That is classified. Zzzt! Only the chief of police, Magnezone, can give away such information. Zzzt!* Then it looked around for a few seconds.

*Zzzt! Where is Vulcan? Zzzt! As I recall, you two are normally inseparable. And wasn't Sharpedo Bluff the site of a massive explosion? Zzzt!*

"Y-yes… Vulcan is healing up in a secret location. We are currently being hunted down by a mysterious group of pokémon, and I believe that Soulburner is affiliated with them."

*...Zzzt! Very well! I will allow you access. But only for a little bit. And only because it's you, Connor! Zzzt!*

It turned around and stared right at Vincent and Rose, who both suddenly appeared. *Zzzt! When did Vincent arrive? And Rose? Zzzt!*

* * *

Connor watched in silence, his jaw hanging open the entire time. This wasn't him! But… that was his voice! There's no mistaking it!

 _No, but Rose… She's dead! That's not us!_

"Officer Magnezone, that's not us!"

*Zzzt! Do you have any solid evidence against this motion picture? Zzzt!*

"It's impossible for that to be us, because Rose is dead!"

Magnezone's eyes widened, but he shook his head in defiance. *Zzzt! I cannot deny the evidence presented before me! This is taken directly from the memory of one of the officers, and it is impossible to create illusions inside of my containment facility! Rose is not present, so that forces me to presume that she is simply in hiding, and you are covering for her, as well as Vincent! Zzzt!*

The video moved at an accelerated pace, until he saw himself turn around in the blink of an eye and use power-up punch on the Magneton. Then Vincent slammed it into the ground with a giant paint fist while Rose snaked through the corridor and used Flamethrower on the officers that floated down the hallway.

"Hurry!" Fake Connor said to Vincent.

Then the video jumped forward to one of the cells being opened by Vincent. A Chandelure floated out of the cell and used inferno, a massive wave of indigo fire washing over everything. Then the video went dark.

*Zzzt! This is the evidence that is presented against you. As such, until we can find evidence to prove your innocence, you are under arrest, and Vincent and Rose are now wanted outlaws! Zzzt!*

Their detached badges began glowing, and one by one, every one of his team members was enveloped in a translucent blue sphere. Atlas gasped and used focus punch to try and break the orb, but his fist slid down the inside of the sphere without so much as a scratch, almost as if it was coated in grease soaked in oil. Vulcan used inferno, but the sphere held fast, the flames doing nothing but swirling inside of the orb. Then, all at once, they were lifted into the sky. Vulcan first, then Atlas, then Vincent… One by one, with Dawn and Aaron vanishing last, but Leroy remained on the ground, since he didn't have a badge, as did the rest of the Insurgo.

Connor roared and mega evolved, breaking apart the electromagnetic barrier. "STOP!"

He leapt into the air with ancient power and slammed the boulders into the spheres, but they just bounced off harmlessly. Then the orbs picked up speed, rising even faster, until they vanished in a flash of light. He fell to the ground from a hundred feet up, his anguish at losing his team making him lose control over the stone. He hit the ground with sickening force, and he looked up to see the Insurgo staring at him with tears in their eyes. All except Basileus and Briar.

Grovyle knelt on one knee and let a single tear fall. "Connor… We will get you out. ...I'm sorry."

Then everything went dark.

* * *

 **Welp... Here's the bad thing you guys have probably been expecting to happen... They're all separated now.**

 **Also, Roy's been kind of playing Dawn... Not cool at all. So what did you guys think of this chapter? Was it good? Did it make you gasp in disbelief and reread the passage a couple times, then hate me for making it so sad? Let me know! As always, I hope you guys enjoyed reading! If you have any questions, comments, concerns or theories about what might happen, feel free to leave them in the form of a review or PM!**

 **The next and final chapter of the Blazing Hearts will be released in a week, solely for the purpose of a cliffhanger, because I love you guys. :P So yeah, don't hate me, just follow me for updates about the next story! I will see you all in a week! Much Love!**

 **-PL**


	31. Snuff Out the Blazing Heart

**-Chapter XXXI: Snuff Out the Blazing Heart-**

 **-3rd Person-**

"Hey! What's going on!" Manaphy was enveloped in a blue transparent sphere. Jetsam looked back at him, along with the rest of both Team Maelstrom and Team Siren.

"Manaphy?!" Cassandra rushed forward through the water, and Narobi charged up a hyper beam. "We must free him!"

Dylan sighed and tilted his head down. "...Team Firestorm is finished."

Manaphy's bubble deflected all of the attacks, as well as Cassandra's full-force body slam, and it vanished in a blast of light.

Neva stared at where the bubble used to be in silence. Hydro clenched his fists and turned to Dylan, "Where'd he go?!"

"...Wherever he was born, or recruited into Team Firestorm." Dylan replied.

"Why?" Hydro demanded.

"That sphere… His badge… One of the Leaders must have been arrested and been stripped of his explorer status. If that is to happen, all recruited members, as well as the partner of the pokémon, are sent back to their dungeons of origin… Team Firestorm is separated, and are likely being hunted down now."

Hydro turned to Narobi and said, "Then we have to help them!"

Jetsam laughed and shook his head. "Hydro, I'm sure you have the best intentions, but Neva, Valerie, Dylan and Cassandra cannot function well on land. They would only put themselves in harms' way."

"Then I'll go myself!"

"Hydro, that is not your place-" Narobi began.

"Lapras said to keep the kid safe! That's what I'm going to do! With or without you, ya punk!" He began swimming upwards, and Jetsam did a facepalm. "Well, then… I guess it's up to me to make sure he doesn't get himself killed."

He began swimming after Hydro, and Cassandra looked up with a smile at the retreating outline of her friend. "Hydro… You've always been one to take action…"

Narobi knelt in front of Cassandra and looked up at her. "...May I join them? Hydro will get into more trouble than he can handle. I would like to make sure that he doesn't find himself in a situation that he cannot free himself from."

"Go ahead. Galatia?"

"...I will go, too." The Empoleon confirmed.

"Go, then. Fight, and win."

 **-Nashoba-**

He opened his eyes from meditation as Cosmo floated closer to him. "Nashoba… Team Firestorm..."

"I know. Connor has been framed. And framed very thoroughly. If it weren't such a dire time, I would be impressed."

"They've all been separated! Mordred has sent Widow and Flatline after them, along with Soulburner, Rogue, and almost half of their forces!" the Kirlia's voice broke as tears lined the edges of her eyes.

"...Then we will do everything in our power to help them."

Cosmo's eyes flashed white before she landed on the ground. "Nashoba, Seth is contacting me. He wishes to speak with you."

"Begin the transmission."

Cosmo's eyes glowed even more brilliantly, and the forest hut that they were in was replaced by a cave with torches burning along the walls. Quint the Absol, Maris the Delcatty, Lucerna the Volcarona and Seth the Gallade were standing in front of him and Cosmo. He knew this was a telepathic link, but it was as close to real interaction as any pokémon could get.

Nashoba nodded solemnly and stood as tall as he could. Even so, he had to look up at the quadruped snow-white pokemon.. "Quint. I understand that Team Firestorm is in danger?"

"They are. Maris has acquired information from Briar and Basileus regarding their condition."

"Basileus and Briar? The Grovyles?"

"Yes. However, now they are both Sceptiles. They have told Maris of the situation at hand. Connor was framed for the release of Soulburner. There is motion picture evidence."

Nashoba whistled quietly. "Motion picture? Now I am even more amazed." He placed a hand on his chin in thought. "A Zoroark is the only explanation. Ditto can only mimic what they have seen beforehand, and can only use a fraction of the moves of the pokémon it can transform into. But you must take into account that only Magnezone and his officers retain their abilites after passing through the enchanted section at the entrance. So they would have to find a way to disable it from inside. But after Mordred escaped from the Magneton on the inside, Magnezone initiated a new protocol to prevent future security breaches..."

"I agree with you. However, if it is true that the Mafia figured out how to negate this enchantment, a Zoroark is quite literally one of the most cunning and elusive pokémon. There will be no way to prove Connor's innocence unless we can find that Zoroark. And with the Mafia protecting their trail the way they have been, it is impossible for us to do it ourselves."

"Then what do you suggest?"

"I don't know. Maris and I have been working on it as soon as we received word of the situation. But I do know this: Team Firestorm has been split up and sent back to their dungeons of origin. Where they were recruited. And if they weren't recruited in a Mystery Dungeon, then it will be the place that they were born."

"Their dungeons of origin… I'm sorry, Quint. That is where my knowledge reaches its peak. I do not know-"

"Maris has already narrowed down our choice to nine mystery dungeons. We have a high probability of finding at least one member for almost every location. But you know that they have three of the most dangerous pokémon in the world after them, as well as many operatives from the group searching for us. We cannot act foolishly, nor act on impulse. They are more powerful than we could have ever foreseen. It is no exaggeration to say that Team Firestorm's survival rests on our shoulders."

"Understood. I will assemble my team and-"

Suddenly the psychic link blinked in and out of focus. He turned to Cosmo and grabbed her shoulders gently. "Cosmo, what's going on?"

She scrunched her eyebrows together, then was thrown backwards, the link being broken. He quickly rushed forward to help her up, but when they touched, her vision became his own. An Alakazam was floating just in front of her, reaching for her face. She cried out and tried to teleport away, but it held her with Psychic and drew ever closer, "Hm-hm-hm-ha-ha-ha! You think you ever fooled us? You cannot escape. You are only delaying your inevitable demise. Your entire world is coming to an end... Prepare yourself."

Then, her eyes shot open as the vision vanished, tears streaming down her face. "Nashoba!" She embraced him tightly, and he returned it in kind. She wept as she dug her head into his shoulder, "H-How will we overcome this...?"

He looked to Zenith and Shinobu, his eyes beginning to tear up as well. "I do not know… But we have to be strong. Remember everything your mother has taught you, Cosmo."

She nodded and wiped the tears from her eyes. "Inner strength…"

"It comes during the darkest of times. It is when we give ourselves the will to go on, even when it seems impossible," he finished.

"But what if we do not survive…?"

"I would rather be ashes than dust. If it is our fate to fall in the fight, then so be it. But how would you rather perish? Hiding in the shadows like a coward, or fighting for our world?"

She stared into his eyes wordlessly, and Shinobu strode over to them. "I do not plan to perish in the battles ahead, but Nashoba is correct. The world as we know it is falling apart, Cosmo. There is but one choice left. Fight and perhaps lose our lives, or hide and accept defeat as the only option. Who are we, Cosmo?"

"...Team Hope."

Shinobu nodded, "Hope. It is the concept that our entire team is based upon. It is when you see the light around you, in spite of the darkness of the world. It is the thing that keeps one going, even when it seems impossible. Remember that we are the embodiment of hope, bestowing it upon those that have stopped believing. If we don't hold true to those values… we are nothing."

Nashoba placed his hands on her shoulders and stared into her eyes. "Cosmo… Will you fight with us?"

She nodded slowly, "...I will."

He smiled slightly and stood up. "Good. Shinobu, secure my sun scarf. I finally have cause to evolve."

 **-Grovyle-**

He had half a mind to free Connor right now and make a run for it. Magnezone and the Trio of Magnemite and Magneton had their backs turned to their entire group. But he knew better. He couldn't do that without serious consequences.

Galvantula looked into the sky. A perfect, cloudless day, as it had been for the past week and a half. After the police were nothing but dots in the distance, he let out the breath he had been holding. "Welp… This sucks."

"You're telling me," Tyranitar said. "Why didn't we do anything, Amber?"

"Because," she deadpanned, "It was out of our hands."

"Out of our hands? Are you listening to yourself right now?!"

"Yes, I am, Tyranitar! When it comes to police interference, it would do us more harm than good to free him!"

"But he's the most powerful-"

"I know! I know… But that is another reason… In case you five didn't notice, I sent Briar and Basileus to find Team Core. They've already told them about what happened."

"Okay, we get it. They told them what happened before it happened," Galvantula said. "Now tell us that you have a plan."

"Of course I have a plan! We came here to receive Wigglytuff's help, and that's what I intend to do!"

She continued walking forward, and Leroy cleared his throat. "Now, pardon my intrusion, but I must go find Aaron. I know where he will be located. Where do we rendezvous once we've all done our assigned tasks?"

"We'll meet on the west side of the northernmost Mountain of the Great Mountain Range," Grovyle replied. "Any objections?"

"...Nope." Galvantula said after a moment. "That's where we'll be. Just let us know beforehand."

"How do I… oh, never mind. I will head there as soon as I confirm Aaron's safety."

"What are you, his babysitter?" Galvantula jested.

"Are you serious right now? The team that all eight of you have been sent to protect is now in greater danger than ever before! Now is not the time for jokes!"

"...Sheesh, Sorry." Galvantula apologized insincerely, and Leroy took to the air. "I shouldn't take more than a few days!"

"If they even have that long. The Mafia has this planned out very thoroughly. We have to be as fast as possible." Grovyle said as he waved the Farfetch'd off, and Leroy flew into the sky.

Amber took a deep breath and continued forward, climbing up the stairs and standing on the grate. Grovyle sighed and looked to the ground. He'd never been in this place before, although, from the looks of it, it was probably the entrance, with several sublevels dug into the hill it was perched on.

"Pokémon detected! Pokémon detected!" a familiar voice echoed from the bottom of the grate.

"WHOSE FOOTPRINT? WHOSE FOOTPRINT?" The low-pitched voice was so powerful that it sent a shockwave of air up through the hole in the ground. Grovyle shook his head and regained his footing after the ear-shattering voice receded.

"The footprint is Charizard's! The footprint is Charizard's!"

A brief pause was evident, followed by, "IS IT VULCAN? I REPEAT, IS IT VULCAN?" the second voice questioned.

"N-no! Not Vulcan! Not Vulcan!"

There was a brief silence, followed by the explosive voice. "...WELL, I DON'T KNOW… HM? What's that, Guildmaster? Oh! Yes, sir! ...CHANGE OF PLANS! YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS MAY ENTER!"

The gate opened up, and Grovyle tilted his head. "Okay… I don't see any stairs..."

"There's a ladder leading to different sublevels," Amber said. "It's pretty neat, if you check it out." She glided through the entrance and climbed down the ladder.

Tyranitar just leapt down the hole, cracking the stone where he landed and shaking the room. But Celebi used Ancient Power to fix it up once she fluttered down next to him. Grovyle climbed down, followed by Dusknoir and Galvantula.

When he looked around, he was awestruck. There were several exploration teams checking billboards on the left and right, and two more chatting around a small table. There was an empty booth to his left, but he didn't pay much attention to it.

Chatot flew up the ladder behind them and squawked with a mix of anger and disbelief. "Who in Varius is so important that the Guildmaster would overrule the Guild's safety proto…" his words died in his throat as soon as they turned around. "M-my apologies, Amber… I didn't know it was-"

"It's alright, Chatot… Tell me, where is Wigglytuff?"

"He is in his study. Shall I let him know you've arrived?"

"No, it's alright. We'll go say hi ourselves. I want to see how the guild is doing, anyways."

Chatot beamed at that statement. "My, my! Yes, of course! Now, you won't see the likes of Sunflora, Bidoof, or Corphish around, since they've all gone and graduated and have joined exploration teams in other parts of Immanis, and while the rest of them have graduated too, they've volunteered to stay behind and help out around the guild. Loudred has evolved, and might I say, is louder than ever before. And Diglett and Croagunk have evolved as well! So it ends up that we have another Dugtrio to help with tasks around the guild… Hee-hee!"

Amber led the group down the next ladder, Grovyle tilted his head at the pokémon before him. "Toxicroak… Exploud, Dugtrio, Chimecho… I remember you four."

"GROVYLE!" Loudred-er, exploud rushed forward and gave him a massive hug. "I NEVER THOUGHT I'D SEE YOUR FACE AGAIN! HAHAHAHA!"

Grovyle's ears were ringing from that blast wave of sound, but he nodded and smiled. "Yes… Neither did I."

Then Exploud looked directly behind him and shouted even louder. "DUSKNOIR?!"

Grovyle rolled his eyes slightly. "Not this again… Okay, listen, he's fine. He is with us now."

"But last time… he was sent to get rid of you, right?" Toxicroak smiled and shrugged dismissively. "Then again, it's been almost two years… what do I know… Meh-heh-heh."

"So who are your friends? And where are Connor and Vulcan?" Chimecho asked. "I haven't seen them hardly at all since they evolved."

"Ah, yes… Chimecho, this is Amber, Galvantula, Tyranitar, Celebi, and Dusknoir. They are… an elite group of pokémon." Chatot said. "And as for Connor and Vulcan… I'm sure that they are doing official business. After all, they're the most famous team on the continent!"

The insurgo introduced themselves, and a new voice came from behind them. "'Scuse me…" A small Female Nidoran crawled between them, and Chatot tilted his head. "Mila? What are you doing down here? And where is Ike?"

"He's turning in the rewards to Officer Magneton. I just wanted to see what all the commotion was."

"Oh. These are some of the Guildmaster's friends!" Chatot put on a faked smile, but the little kid bought it. Grovyle suppressed a laugh. But he was just as trusting at one point, so he was in no position to judge.

"Okay. Well… I'm Mila. I joined the guild a couple months ago. I joined after I heard that Team Firestorm Trained here."

"Oh? And why did you have an interest in them?" Grovyle asked.

"Because they're my heroes. Connor and Vulcan… Atlas and Vincent... They saved the world, and stopped a really bad pokémon that hurt my friends! I want to be just like them when I'm all evolved!" then she sighed and said, "Sorry… I get carried away sometimes. Thank you, Chatot!"

"It is not a problem, child. Now go have yourself drink at Spinda's Café. You and Ike deserve it." Chatot took a deep breath and looked at Amber once again. "The fact that you're here… And all of you at once… It means that Connor and Vulcan… and their team is in grave danger."

Grovyle nodded, and Chatot sighed. "I suspected as much… The amount of crimes committed by big-name outlaws has risen drastically in the past week alone. It's getting dangerous for explorers to do everyday missions now. Mila and Ike have great potential, and in fact, are possibly the next generation of prized recruits. There are quite a few new members of the guild that aren't here at the moment. Even more so than when Connor and Vulcan were being prepared here. I believe that the tally is up to fourteen now."

"What species is Ike?" Galvantula questioned.

"He's a Tyrogue. He's not very powerful, but he has his pick at three evolutions once he is experienced enough."

"Ah. I'd lean towards Hitmonlee, honestly." Tyranitar said. "They're much tougher, and they have a longer range with their legs."

"But what about Hitmontop?" Galvantula argued. "Aren't they super powerful?"

"Meh. They're overrated," Tyranitar replied. "Chatot, just tell the kid that I suggested Hitmontop- I mean lee!"

Chatot nodded and said, "Of course. Now, follow me, if you'd please."

Chatot tapped the oak wood double doors with his beak and said, "Guildmaster… They're here."

Tyranitar pushed the doors open after a moment, and Wigglytuff beamed when he saw them. "Hi, friends! Oh, it's been so long since I've gotten to see you all at once! How are you?"

"We're fine, Wigglytuff," Amber assured. "We're here because-"

"Oh, I know why you're here! It's because you need my help, right?"

"Yes… How did you..."

"It's obvious! The only reason you six would be here at once is because you need my help! And judging by the rising crime rates, Team Firestorm is on the brink of defeat. And we can't have that, now can we?"

Dusknoir crossed his arms and mumbled, "Seven…"

"Oh, I'm so sorry Dusknoir! I was talking about the Temporal Guardians! I didn't mean to exclude you, I promise!"

He shrugged dismissively, and Wigglytuff's smile lessened as he took a deep breath. "I did my best to train them for this… I knew that someday they would face an enemy that was too powerful for them to take on. I just didn't know who it was. Not even the Lord of Time knew. And... that is where I failed."

Grovyle shook his head and said, "Without you, nothing would have changed in the future. You always knew what had to happen, yet, somehow, without taking any action that would arouse suspicion, you still managed to help Connor and Vulcan stop the destruction of time. Even going so far as to help capture me the first time."

"Of course! Lapras and I both agreed to guard the hidden land together back when we were asked where we wanted to go! I wouldn't bring anyone other than Chatot to the pattern in Brine Cave until the Relic Fragment was found, and she wouldn't guide anyone that didn't have the Relic Fragment! And I had to play along, you know that now!"

"Of course. But Wigglytuff, now we need information. Valerie. Where is she?" Amber asked.

"Valerie…?"

"Yes. Where is she?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, Amber…" he shrugged and smiled, oblivious to the situation at hand.

She smiled and said, "Then here's a little something to help you remember." She pulled out an apple that was as red as a Razz Berry, and twice the size of the apples they had picked in Apple woods.

Wigglytuff gasped and pressed his hands against his cheeks. "Is that…?"

"Yes, it's your favorite."

Wigglytuff grinned and snatched the apple out of her hands before bouncing it on his head repeatedly. "Perfect apple, perfect apple! Thank you thank you thank you thank you! La-la-la-la-la~!"

"Wigglytuff, focus!" Amber pressed.

Wigglytuff calmed down in the blink of an eye and seemed to think for only a moment before nodding. "A Delphox, right? I remember who you're talking about! She's… Er… Where was she, Chatot?"

Chatot flinched and looked at Wigglytuff. "Hm? Yes, Guildmaster? I apologize, I was preparing for tomorrow's assignments."

"Where was Valerie again? The Delphox?"

"Oh! I believe she was… On Mt. Mistral."

Amber tilted her head, unfamiliar with the name. "Mt. Mistral? Where is that? I've never read about it on Immanis-"

"Oh, it's on the fire island to the northwest. Just south of Dark Crater, where Connor and Vulcan beat Darkrai." Chatot informed her.

"Okay… Well, now we know where she is…" Galvantula said. "But how do we get Connor out of jail?"

Wigglytuff smiled goofily and walked forward, placing the perfect apple on a throw pillow to his right. "Leave that to me! You guys go find Team Firestorm."

"What do you plan to do?" Amber asked.

"Get Connor out, of course!"

"But he's in the maximum security area of the prison! How are you going to get in? Even you have to follow the law!"

"I have my ways, Amber. Don't worry. You should worry about the other pokémon. Vulcan, Atlas, Vincent, Mirage, Alice, Caroline, Jade, Roy and Aaron. They're the ones in danger." Wigglytuff walked past them and turned around briefly, a giant grin on his face. "Let's have fun with this, guys! We're all in the same boat, after all! If they lose, we lose!"

 **-Victor-**

He laughed as he read over the latest report from Officer Magnezone. "'Connor Chadwick, a Swampert, Leader of Team Firestorm, Vincent Vango, a Smeargle, and Rose Ripley, a Dragonair, have been charged with one of the highest offenses: Freeing a ten star rank criminal from Magnezone's Maximum Security Prison, and assaulting more than four officers in the process. The leader is currently being detained and Team Firestorm has been stripped of Exploration Team Status on charge of guilt by association. Every member has been warped back to their dungeons of origin, or birthplace, depending on the situation during the time of their recruitment.' Ha-ha-ha-ha! This is perfect! Now they're all separated! And better yet, Connor was arrested, and Vulcan was transported away as well! Excellent work, you three!"

They all nodded with a smug expression, and Eclipse, the Zoroark, knelt in front of him. "Thank you, Master Victor. Your praise is music to my ears."

Victor waved her off and continued smiling. "Now…" He spread his wings out in a questioning gesture. "What next? I can take them out one by one now. If you are satisfied with the hundred thousand apiece for freeing Soulburner, perhaps we can-"

"No. We've already committed to this, we're finishing it." Widow interjected. "We will take care of Atlas, Vulcan, Mirage, Aaron and Roy-"

"Actually… Hee-hee-hee-hm-hm-ha-ha-ha! I'd like to finish that one myself, along with his star-crossed lover, the Ralts! Hee-hee!" Soulburner drifted from the ceiling and floated closer to Victor. "Honestly, buddy, thanks for doing that. You really didn't need to break me out."

"But you would have never escaped otherwise." Victor snarled.

"Hmph. There you go, underestimating me again! Honestly, so many of you mafia members do that. It's getting kind of annoying. But I'll bite. But just so we're clear on who's going after who, Rogue is going after Jade, probably with several other fire-types, since you told her to bring back any member, and she's looking for a type advantage, Team Veros is going for Caroline, due to their poison typing, Team Virus is going for Alice, since they are your best operatives, and she has a Mega Stone that enabled her to almost beat your two 'star pupils'. As for me, I am hunting down that Mismagius and Ralts, and you, the aforementioned 'star pupils', are going after the four you mentioned. Does that sound about right?"

"No." Mordred shook his head with a scowl. "The Ralts is mine. She is too powerful for you, Soulburner."

"...She might be. But nonetheless-"

"Then she is mine. We are not risking compromising one of our own. We have planned this for months, and I will see to it that Master Victor is not disappointed."

"...Fine. I'll have to settle for the Mismagius and Dusknoir. Their souls will suffice for now. Hm-hm-hm-ha-ha-ha!"

"We still get paid for the members that your group takes care of, correct? The only reason that they're separated at all is because we worked with Eclipse." Widow stated.

Victor growled, since Eclipse could have done it herself, but he nodded. "Yes. You will receive full payment, as long as the job gets done."

"Then we have ourselves an agreement." A crooked smirk tugged at the edge of Widow's mouth as she looked up at Flatline. "Now… who should we pick first?"

* * *

 **Probably one of the worst cliffhangers ever, to be totally honest. And there's gonna be a weird moment in just a second when you realize that no-one has died in this entire story. :P**

 **Alright guys, this is the last chapter of the Blazing Hearts! And it was late at night on Easter Sunday, which actually wasn't planned. Plus it's a whopping 4,000+ word chapter, excluding the authors' notes. I've got a little bit of ranting/explaining to do, since it's the last chapter, and I've realized things as I continue to grow and learn from your valuable input. If you don't care about this sort of stuff, then skip to the last little section of the end thing.**

 **I do realize that this story was extremely dark/depressing, and definitely not as happy-go-lucky as most other PMD fanfics, including my previous stories. But here's the thing... If you don't really care for the depressing stuff, then just wait until I start working on something else, such as my baseline GTI and SMD stories. And I've honestly got mixed feelings about the way my stories have turned out as well. I don't really like it because of all the terrible stuff I'm making my characters go through, but at the same time, it's so different from a lot of other authors/directors in the sense that the good guys don't always win every time, and that's what makes me enjoy writing it. Because the Mafia, this massive group with unlimited knowledge and resources, is trying to eliminate this team, that is massively outnumbered and outgunned, even with assistance from other teams, and I can make it realistic in the sense that they can be beaten, and even killed. And personally, I don't really like happy-go-lucky stuff that much, where everything is always great, and everyone is fine all the time... It's not that realistic! I enjoy reading/watching realistic works where you're always wondering what will happen next. The same applies to my writing! If I foreshadow a character dying or something, I want you guys to actually be wondering if it's gonna happen or not! From my experience, if you know the character is going to survive, even in the face of impossible odds, then it takes away a lot of the suspense when you're reading. Like, 'oh, some amazing bounty hunters are going after these kids for whatever reason! But guess what, just before one of them dies, some miracle happens and they win!' If it happens every time a character is about to meet their end, then I know that everything's going to be fine, so I don't worry, and I don't enjoy it as much. Phoo... I'm done. Heh.**

 **Alright guys, I hope you've enjoyed the Blazing Hearts! It was marvelous to see how many reviews it's gotten in such a short period of time! It seems like only yesterday I was writing Firestorm Origins. I had no idea that I would have this many people reading my stories, nor did I anticipate writing anything after the Light in the Storm. But man, am I glad that I did! It's been a rollercoaster of emotions writing this dadgum trilogy, and by Arceus, I am going to finish the saga, even if it takes me over a year!**

* * *

 **Also, here's a list of all the reader-submitted OC characters/teams that are involved in my stories to date. All that are not mentioned are my own OCs.**

 **The Big Four of the Mafia (Victor, Mordred, Koumori and Rogue) were submitted by Onyxwhip**

 **The Assassins (Widow and Flatline) and Soulburner the Chandelure were submitted by Onyxwhip**

 **Team Virus (Nagini, Fornax, Arturia and Larua) was submitted by Onyxwhip**

 **Alice the Lopunny was submitted by**

 **Caroline the Meganium was submitted by Zyrogaming69**

 **Leroy the Farfetch'd was submitted by Chille3001**

 **Aaron the ash-grey Pikachu was submitted by Grey917**

 **Team Maelstrom (Jetsam, Neva, Valerie and Dylan) was submitted by AeroJester203**

 **Team Veros (Talis, Gunter and Deros) was submitted by Zyrogaming69**

 **Team Hope (Nashoba, Cosmo, Zenith and Shinobu) was submitted by Caelys/Kurashi**

 **Team Core (Quint, Seth, Lucerna and Maris) was submitted by**

 **Cinder the Infernape was submitted by Onyxwhip**

* * *

 **Thank you all for giving me ideas for the Blazing Hearts Trilogy! I'll leave a surprise poll up for about a week, so choose yes or no if you want! And thank you all for staying with me through the trials in this story! It really means a lot, and I hope you will all stick around for the next story as well! The next one will be called PMD: When Fire Falls. Ominous, right? :P So yeah... If you have any questions, comments, concerns, or theories, feel free to leave them in the form of a Review or PM! I will see you all in a few months with the first chapter of PMD: When Fire Falls! In the meantime, check out Firestorm Battle Royale, if you haven't. It's going to be where I am posting during the in-between months of my main stories, so give it a follow if you're interested! Once again, thank you all for showing this much support throughout my brief time here! Much Love!**

 **-PL**


	32. Preview of When Fire Falls

**As promised, you amazing people get a sneak peek at snippets of what happen to the characters! It's not like my traditional stuff, where it's just one whole chapter preview... It's snippets of the story at different points.**

 **Before we begin, if you're a new reader (You started reading this story, then went to Firestorm Origins, or started reading my stories a couple months ago, etc), then I want to say welcome to the club, even though it's not really a club! And if you're waiting anxiously for the sequel to come out in a couple weeks... That's not exactly how I run my profile. The way that my writing style works is this: I write my entire story in one go, proofreading and changing out some ideas as I go along, before ever posting it to . This means that there is usually a period of 4-7 months in between my stories being published, but I am able to post two chapters every week. So... Yeah. I post updates at the end of my most recent story, so you guys aren't left in the dark about my progress on the sequels. I hope you guys enjoy this little snippet!**

* * *

 **-Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: When Fire Falls-**

 **-Exclusive Access Sneak Peek!-**

 **-Connor-**

A hatch opened up in front of them with a glowing field of energy expanding from within it, almost like a net or protect barrier, and Magnezone uncuffed Connor. *Zzzt! Step forward!*

"This can't be happening…" He moved closer to the door and slowly stepped over the line. As he stepped through, nothing felt any different, but Magnezone closed the door, which was made of glass, apparently, and said, *Zzzt! I'm sorry, Connor… Zzzt!*

 **-Vulcan-**

"Vulcan..."

Upon hearing that voice, he bristled up and ignited his fists. "What the hell are you doing here?" He snarled as the pokémon walked out from behind the nearest boulder.

"I know this looks bad, kid… But I got a deal to make with you. It might just save you and your friends."

 **-Roy-**

He stared at the purple flames in front of him, being drawn in against his will, just like last time.

"Hm-hm-hm-ha-ha-ha! Oh, my little Roy… Your spirit is so much stronger than last time we met! But this time, there's no-one to help you…"

 **-** **Jade-**

She opened her eyes when she heard a brief thunk-like sound, followed by feeling the Typhlosions' grip loosen from her arms. She righted herself from the snow and observed that the Houndoom had been knocked to the side and the Typhlosion had been slammed face-first into the nearest tree. A fog began rolling in around them, and laughter echoed around until a voice called out from her left. "Ooooh, you made a big mistake, lady!"

An identical voice came from her right, a somewhat high-pitched male voice. "A big mistake!"

The Houndoom used fire blast, sending thick pillars of fire in ten different directions, somehow avoiding Jade in the crossfire. After a moment of looking around in silence, she snarled softly. "Hmph…"

She turned back to Jade and leapt forward, but a shadowy pokémon grappled her head mid-leap and slammed her head into the snow. "Hee-hee! Levi, you gotta try this!"

The Houndoom got up and looked into the fog, then back at the Typhlosion and Talonflame, "Well?! Do something!"

The Talonflame's wings began glowing, about to use defog, when the same shadowy figure tackled it out of the air. "Ain't nobody messing up our flow, son!"

The same voice came from her right again. "Yeah!"

 **-Amber-**

"Dusknoir, you can't go now! We need you! Tell him to delay a little bit longer! Just until you find Roy!"

"I'm sorry, Amber… But Giratina has summoned me. I do not know when I will return. I will do my best to make this meeting swift… But he grows less tolerant of our meddling. It will be difficult to persuade him much more." Dusknoir hung his head low and placed his hand on the ground. A dimensional hole appeared in the stone, the blue and black rings pulsing and swirling towards the center of the hole. He looked back once at her, then briefly at Grovyle before nodding his head once and vanishing into the portal.

 **-Mirage-**

"Mirage… Hiekka?" The Aegislash levitated in front of her and seemed to be scanning her entire body as she stood in the courtyard of the massive palace made entirely of sandstone. "Yeah. Are they here?"  
"Not at the moment, madam… But they should be back before nightfall. And your pursuers will not be allowed past the front gates."

 **-Victor-**

He paced down the hallway on his way to his vault, and he stopped as a slight twinkle caught his eye. He moved closer to the statue of Valerie the Delphox and noticed a small badge on its dress "Hm? What's this…? It's not Team Firestorm…" He plucked it off with his beak, and a deeper female voice resonated from behind him. "You know, I look much better in person. I'm not really feeling the whole 'statue' thing."

 **-Aaron-**

"I swore to Arceus that I'd be the one to kill you, Victor… And still, for nine years, you've evaded me. But I intend to keep my promise." He clenched his fists and looked to the sky as the rain slowed down to a light drizzle. He sighed and laid his head down against the cliffside in frustration. "GAH!" He slammed his fist into the wall, sending a fissure-like crack up the cliffside.

* * *

 **Alright, so what do you guys think so far? I'm trying to work on the sequel as much as I can while maintaining a good balance of school and work, so it won't be out for at least another four months, probably... School sucks. But meh. It'll be a fun adventure, full of peril and a few new faces added into the mix! But not a ton like in this story. (There was some confusion about the Insurgo for those that hadn't read my Grovyle Stories. I introduced like fifteen 'new characters' in this one. :P) Speaking of new Characters, I am no longer accepting new entries due to how many I already have. I'm sorry about that.**

 **What do you guys think of these little snippets? Go ahead and leave any questions, comments, concerns and theories about what's gonna happen in the form of a review or PM! It's always appreciated, and I enjoy having conversations with you guys! I will see you guys in When Fire Falls! Much Love!**

 **-PL**


	33. Another Update About 'When Fire Falls'

**-Prof. Lugia-**

*Update about 'When Fire Falls'*

Hello, everyone! I have decided to do another update on my progress! I am currently about 75% done with 'When Fire Falls', and once I write a few more chapters, I will begin uploading the story! So look forward to it within the next two weeks! Mid-to-Late July is my projected release date, so... Yeah. That's that! I'll give a few disclaimers and such right now, for you readers that care, then again when I upload the first chapter.

Disclaimer 1: It's going to be focusing a lot on the Distortion World/Death related stuff, such as souls, Giratina, etc; So it'll be different from focusing on Temporal Related stuff like in all the others.

Disclaimer 2: Another thing I'm focusing on is 'magic', such as incantations, ghostly stuff like possession of living beings, making spectral beings, things like that. It's a lot of things that I haven't done before in any of my stories. So it'll be interesting.

Disclaimer 3: It's going to be more perilous than the Blazing Hearts. Obviously.

Disclaimer 4: More characters that are actually kind of important. Not just 'bam! Characters seen in one chapter and never heard from again!'

Disclaimer 5: I've seen three reviews on The Blazing Hearts that ask for more of Team Hope. So more Team Hope has been given in this story. Not a ton, though. Just more than last time.

Disclaimer 6: I can probably call these 'disclaimers' something different, but these are just telling you guys what's up, and just giving you a warning, so you're not all like, "Whoa, Magic isn't pokemon! He's focusing on stuff that's not anything like anything else!" Well, in Arceus' Movie, they called Pokemon 'Magical Creatures', so... Booya. Knowledge. I'm joking, by the way. I haven't had anyone complaining about my other stuff, and I'm feeling really good about this story, so I hope you guys are looking forward to it as much as I am! See you in a couple weeks! Much Love!

-PL


End file.
